Israel High Tech Scene October 3 – October 9

Tel Aviv at sunset, Israel Startup Israel

New Startups / VC Funding
Orca Security Raises $550 Million
Israeli cybersecurity startup Orca Security, which specializes in cloud services security, raised an additional $340 million. This brings Orca’s total Series C fundraising round to $550 million. Orca Security was already a unicorn, but now it is an even bigger one with a $1.8 billion valuation. The news comes after Orca raised $150 million in July… Read More Here

NeuroBlade Raises $83 Million For Data Analytics
NeuroBlade, an Israeli startup that offers data acceleration solutions, also known as data analytics, has secured $83 million in Series B funding led by Corner Ventures with contribution from Intel Capital, and supported by current investors StageOne Ventures, Grove Ventures and Marius Nacht. This round brings the total investment in NeuroBlade to $110 million to date… Read More Here

Aquant Raises $70 Million For Service Industry Tech
Aquant, an Israeli startup offering a Service Intelligence Platform that uses artificial intelligence AI, raised $70 million in Series C funding, led by Qumra Capital, Insight Partners and Pitango Growth. This brings Aquant’s total funding to date to $110 million.… Read More Here

IPOs and Unicorns
Delta Galil Looks To $2 Billion IPO
Delta Galil Industries, the Israeli clothing manufacturer, is planning on holding an initial public offering IPO, on Wall Street. Bloomberg reported that Delta Galil expects as much as a $2 billion valuation from the offering. In August, the company first revealed plans to file for an IPO with the SEC… Read More Here

Top 5 Israel IPO Stories For September
The exits keep on coming for Startup Nation. There were plenty of IPOs in September.

Israeli fintech startup Pagaya sealed the deal on an SPAC merger ahead of the company’s initial public offering. Pagaya is looking at a $9 billion valuation from its IPO. This is up from the reported $8 billion expectation of just a few weeks ago… Read More Here

Deel Hits $5.5 Billion Valuation
Deel, an Israeli startup and unicorn which deals with payroll solutions for firms with international staffs, may now be worth as much as $5.5 billion, reports Globes. This would mean that Deel multiplied its value by 400% since it first hit unicorn status with a $1.25 billion valuation after bringing in $156 million in a Series C round of financing in April… Read More Here

Arbe Robotics Set For NASDAQ IPO
Arbe Robotics, an Israeli startup that offers a 4D Radar solution for automobiles, is ready for its initial public offering IPO on the NASDAQ. Arbe has completed its SPAC merger with Industrial Tech and will begin trading tomorrow, Friday, under the ARBE ticker. The company expects to come away with a $525 million valuation… Read More Here

Mergers and Acquisitions
Perion Network Acquires Israel’s Vidazoo For $93.5 Million
Perion Network Ltd., a global advertising technology company, has bought out the Israeli video technology company Vidazoo for $93.5 million. But it might not be for that much money in the end. This is because the deal is broken down into several forms of payment consisting of $35 million in cash upon closing, with an additional maximum of $58.5 million structured as a performance earn-out, if certain EBITDA-based… Read More Here

Gap Acquires Israeli AI Startup CB4
Famed clothing company Gap Inc. has acquired the New York and Tel Aviv based artificial intelligence AI start-up Context-Based 4 Casting CB4. The purchase price was not disclosed.

The deal was brokered by Gap Inc.’s Strategic Growth Office. As part of the acquisition, CB4’s team will join Gap Inc. as full-time employees… Read More Here

Exceed.Ai Acquired By Genesys For $30 Million
Genesys, an American company offering cloud based customer experience orchestration, has entered into an agreement to acquire Israel’s Exceed.ai, which uses artificial intelligence AI in its marketing platform. While the purchase price was not disclosed, Calcalist reports that it was at least $30 million, and could be… Read More Here

Other Business Stories
New Tel Aviv Central Bus Station Is Coming
Another new Tel Aviv Central Bus Station has been announced that is expected to open in 2023. The new new central bus station, as the old, will be a hub for inter-city buses from company’s like Egged coming from all over the country, and the city’s local Dan bus lines.

The old new bus station will be torn down by 2024. That station opened just 29 years ago… Read More Here

26 People Arrested In Forex And Crypto Fraud By Israel Police-FBI Operation
Tonight, Israeli police arrested 26 suspected of involvement in a series of Forex and Crypto frauds affecting American and international traders.

In 2017, the Israeli Knesset passed legislation restricting the operation of Binary Options brokerages, which effectively shut down the business. Only one person, Lee Elbaz, the former CEO of Yukom Communications… Read More Here

7 New Hotels Planned For Dead Sea
The Israel Land Authority and the Israel Ministry of Tourism of Israel have announced plans to hold tenders for the building of seven new hotels in the Dead Sea tourist area. The hotels will offer a combined 1,675 guest rooms in the Ein Bokek and Hamei Zohar complex at the Dead Sea, and some of them will be on the shore of the Sea… Read More Here

Israel: Microsoft To Double R&D Workforce In The Next Four Years
Microsoft intends to more than double the size of its Research & Development division in Israel over the next four years, from 2,000 to 4,500 personnel.

Hundreds of available roles, ranging from senior engineers to interns, are currently being filled. This follows a period of significant expansion, with Microsoft’s R&D workforce in Israel increased by 30% over the last 18 months… Read More Here