Israel High Tech Scene January 15 – January 21

Tel Aviv at sunset, Israel Startup Israel

New Startups / VC Funding
NsKnox Raises $35.6 Million for Fintech
nsKnox, an Israeli fintech startup, raised $17 million in new funding from U.S.-based Internet and technology venture capital firm Link Ventures and Harel Insurance & Finance, M12 – Microsoft’s Venture Fund, Viola Ventures, and Alon Cohen, the Company’s Founder and CEO and formerly Founder, Chairman and CEO of CyberArk.

The company said that it will use the new funds to scale its Go-to-Market infrastructure and to expand its product suite to corporations and banks. nsKnox has now raised $35.6 million to date.

Founded in 2016, nsKnox is a fintech… Read More Here

AiOla Raises $33 Million for AI Manufacturing Solutions
aiOla, an Israeli startup that offers voice and image recognition combined with advanced AI models to digitize, automate and streamline inspection processes in manufacturing, raised $25 million in a Series A round of funding led by New Era Capital with the participation of Hamilton Lane and other top tier investors. The company said that the new capital will “fuel our growth and execute our vision and mission of connecting the power of AI to the masses by our unstructured natural language interface to critical processes in “Must Have” industries.” aiOla has now raised a total of $33 million to date.

Founded in 2019, aiOla boasts that it is applying the most advanced proprietary technologies in AI, ASR & NLP to solve everyday problems… Read More Here

Google’s Growth Academy Takes 9 Israeli Firms
Google for Startups has selected nine new Israeli firms from the fields of medicine and quality of life to be the first to take part in its first cohort of the Growth Academy program. JBN previously reported on one of the selected firms, AIVF.

The nine companies selected are Olive, which created the world’s first 100% passive non-invasive real-time urinalysis sensor that mounts to any toilet, providing people with health insights; Kai, which offers the “ethical and empathetic” AI companion that helps people discover who they are and who they want to become for better well-being; Embie with a fully connected fertility treatments clinical platform that it says empowers… Read More Here

Yizhar Shai’s SPAC Israel Acquisitions Corp Raises $143 Million
Former Knesset Member and Israeli cabinet minister Yizhar Shai’s new SPAC company called Israel Acquisitions Corp raised $143 million in a NASDAQ IPO. The firm said the funds would be used for investment in the Israeli technology market. Shai was a Knesset member from Benny Gantz’s Blue and White Party and was Israel’s Minister of Science & Technology from 2020 to 2021.

Israel Acquisitions Corp offered 12.5 million units at a price of $ 10 per unit. They were listed on the NASDAQ and trade under the ticker symbol “ISRLU.” Each unit consists of one Class A ordinary share and one redeemable warrant. Each warrant entitles the holder to purchase one Class A ordinary share of the Company at a price of $11.50 per share. Once the securities comprising the units begin separate trading, the Class A ordinary shares and warrants are… Read More Here

Evigence Raises $18 Million for Food Freshness Tech
Evigence, an Israeli startup that provides first-time freshness data to optimize the freshness of foods, raised $18 million in a Series B round of funding led by Cleveland Avenue and included previous investor Landa Ventures, as well as Planet Capital, a privately-held partnership in Chicago.

Founded in 2001 Evigence Sensors focuses on developing and commercializing innovative, patent protected Time Temperature Indicators that meet the needs of industry mega trends and provide information regarding the traceability, safety, health and wellness of a product. Time Temperature Indicators are… Read More Here

MyInterview Raises $11 Million for Talent Searching
myInterview, an Israeli startup that offers smart video interviewing software for firms to use in the recruitment of new employees, raised $11 million in a Series A funding round led by the company’s existing investors Aleph and Entrée Capital and new investor Jesselson Capital, and included participation from SeedIL Ventures, Digital Horizon and Ocean Azul Partners.

Using videos for recruitment makes sense now more than ever after the whole Covid shutdown. But it made sense even before that too. As the world goes global and new technologies allow for people to work for a company located on the other side of the world in a place they will never visit…. Read More Here

Coho AI Raises $8.5 Million for SaaS Services
Coho AI, an Israeli startup that offers services that help companies with SaaS, raised $8.5 million in seed funding led by Eight Roads, TechAviv, and a select group of angel investors, including company co-founder Ariel Maislos, Shlomo Kremer, Natan Linder, and other founders. The company said that this funding round will allow Coho AI to further build its platform that accelerates growth for B2B SaaS companies by effectively “lifting the hood” on their customer usage data.

Founded in 2021, Coho AI boasts that it enables growth, CS and sales teams to focus on the right revenue opportunities. Coho’s platform provides you with insights into how users use your products and what… Read More Here

Politics
Israel on Edge as Masses Protest against Proposed Judicial Reforms
According to police estimates, as many as 80,000 people jammed Tel Aviv’s Habima Square Saturday night in spite of the cold weather and rain to protest Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government’s proposed judicial reform plan which would dramatically curtail the powers of Israel’s Supreme Court and attorney general.

The government insists that its reform plan is needed to reestablish democracy in Israel by “restoring” powers to the democratically elected Knesset and government. Detractors of the plan say that it would actually destroy Israel’s democracy by making the government an elected dictatorship with no check on its powers.

This dispute has arisen primarily because, unlike nations such… Read More Here

Israel’s President Isaac Herzog Is ‘Worried’ About Current Political Situation
The President of Israel Isaac Herzog released a statement on Sunday in which he expressed concern over the current matrimonial political divisions in his country. His words came a day after an estimated 80,000 people crammed Tel Aviv’s Habimah Square to protest the planned judicial reforms proposed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government that would curtail the authority of Israel’s Supreme Court.

The opposition in Israel’s Knesset calls the reform plan a “threat” to Israel’s democracy. The government, in turn, maintains that its program is intended to “restore” democracy in Israel as Israel’s Supreme Court, it maintains, has appropriated too many powers for itself over the years and… Read More Here

Lt. General Herzi Halevi Takes Over As IDF Chief Of Staff
The IDF saw a changing of the guard Monday as outgoing IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kochavi passed the torch on to his successor, Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Isaac Herzog, and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant (himself a former general) all met in person with the two chiefs of staff to make their respective goodbye’s and wishes for good luck.

Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Gallant Met with Kochavi and Herzi Halevi and their Families Monday morning at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem. Netanyahu thanked outgoing Chief-of-Staff Kochavi… Read More Here

Science
Israelis Make another Cancer Breakthrough
Scientists from Israel’s Bar Ilan University have made a new breakthrough in the treatment of cancer. The scientists say they found that a combination of cellular biology and structural biology advances the fight against breast cancer in a way “never before possible.” The findings came from a recent study by Dr. Gil-Henn and Prof. Jordan Chill of Bar-Ilan’s Department of Chemistry.

Israel is at the forefront of new medtech as well as research and development of new treatments and medications, specifically for cancer. Its universities…. Read More Here

Another Israeli Scientific First: A ‘Smelling’ Robot
Israeli scientists at Tel Aviv University have done it again! In their latest breakthrough Researchers at Tel Aviv University have developed a way to make it possible for a robot to smell using a biological sensor. The sensor sends electrical signals as a response to the presence of a nearby odor, which the robot can detect and interpret.

There seems to be no end to the new scientific breakthroughs coming out of Israel these days. And Tel Aviv University is at the forefront, it seems. In the past month alone the school discovered about 100,000 new types of previously unknown viruses – a nine fold increase in the amount… Read More Here

Other Business Stories
Israel’s Tahal Water Infrastructure Company Shutters
Israeli global engineering and construction group Tahal, which was founded in 1842 to bring water to Israel’s local communities, is declaring bankruptcy with NIS 400 million ($118 million) in debt. Globes reported that Tahal is now asking for 60 days to formulate a settlement with its creditors, mostly Israeli banks.

Tahal had been looking for a buyer over the past few years while also attempting to restructure its debt. Fortissimo Capital was a onetime major suitor, but pulled out of talks after what was then described as an intensive examination of the company.

Owned by the Kardan Groups… Read More Here

Elbit Systems Has 3 Deals Worth Up To $350 Million
Elbit Systems signed a $180 Million Contract From the Israeli Ministry of Defense (IMoD) to Provide a new Mission Training Center for its F-16 Fleet, a $95 Million Contract to Supply and Maintain Advanced Electro-Optical Systems to the IMoD and a Contract of $70 Million to Supply Rockets to an unspecified European Country.

The $180 million IMoD contract is to provide, operate and maintain the new Mission Training Center (MTC) for the Israeli Air Force’s (IAF) F-16 fleet. The contract will be delivered over a three-year period with an additional fifteen year period that will include operation and maintenance services.

The new Mission Training Center will be added to the existing… Read More Here

First IAF Officer Completes Observation Balloon Training
The Israel Air Force (IAF) uses a new balloon as part of its air traffic control and defense systems and the first officer trained to operate it has finished the course. The new unit is called Tal Shamayim which means “Sky Dew.”

In the northern part of Israel, you can find one multidimensional balloon with complicated abilities. The Tal Shamayim. Its purpose is to create deterrence and locate the aerial threats of different areas from far away. It does so by the “Hover” system.

The IAF explains that “Hover” system has the most advanced and special detection capabilities that are able to look far and rise to enormous…. Read More Here

Tipalti, Snappy and More Continue Startup Nation Layoffs
Sanppy, Tipalti and StreamElements are all making cutbacks and letting go of employees in a sign that Israel Startup Nation has not begun to recover from the disastrous Q4 that it suffered in 2022.

Tipalti, a fintech business that creates and runs a global financial transfer network, laying off about 11% of its workforce, 123 people. This comes just 6 months after Tipalti was looking to expand its workforce.

Tipalti explained the cutbacks in a move saying that in spite of strong demand for their financial automation solutions and ending what they... Read More Here