Israel High Tech Scene February March 19 – March 25

Tel Aviv at sunset, Israel

New Startups / VC Funding

Amazon Invests Millions in Israel’s Flymingo
Flymingo, an Israeli supply chain analytics startup, has acquired new funding from Amazon. According to a report in Globes, the company received several million dollars from Amazon’s Industrial Innovation Fund (AIIF) for its computer vision technology, which can manage inventory in logistics centers in real time.

Founded in 2021 by CEO Roy Gherman, CCO Shahar Korin, and CTO Itzik Mizrahi, Flymingo says that it is tackling the supply chain industry’s demand for inventory visibility through its cutting-edge computer vision technology. The company boasts near real-time tracking and analysis that it says ensures exceptional… Read More Here

GrayMatters Gets Funding from European Innovation Council
GrayMatters Health (GMH), an Israeli startup that develops digital self-neuromodulation therapies for mental disorders, is receiving investment from the European Innovation Council (EIC) Fund, following the September 2022 grant from EIC of two and a half million euros. Meanwhile, SaverOne, an Israeli company that offers a new system takes which can take control of a driver’s telephone and prevent the use of dangerous applications, joined the European Union’s Regulatory Committee on Driver Distraction (RCDD), as an observing member.

So, regardless of current political disputes, the Europeans seem… Read More Here

Israeli Firms StructShare and TripleW Make Small Raises
StructShare, an Israeli startup that offers a construction procurement and inventory platform for specialty contractors, raised $8 million in funding led by KOMPAS. And TripleW, an Israeli startup that produces lactic acid and PLA bioplastic from food waste, raised $16.5 million in a Series B round of funding led by Firstime VC.

Founded in 2016 by Amir Oranim and Tal Shapira, TripleW upcycles food waste into high-value, high-demand lactic acid, utilizing a climate… Read More Here

BlueGreen Launches Net Blue
BlueGreen Water Technologies, an Israeli startup advancing green tech, launched its Net Blue, the first deep water, nature-based climate solution for atmospheric carbon removal that is regulatory approved, scientifically validated and now – verifiable by industry standards.

The Net Blue methodology is the first of its kind in the world to eliminate harmful algal blooms and sequester carbon dioxide (CO2) in fresh… Read More Here

CodiumAI and DragonflyDB Make Raises
DragonflyDB, an Israeli startup behind the Dragonfly in-memory datastore for cloud environments, held two new rounds of funding which totaled $21 million, including a seed round led by Redpoint and a series A led by Quiet Capital. Satish Dharmaraj of Redpoint Ventures and Astasia Myers of Quiet Capital have both joined the DragonflyDB Inc. board. Meanwhile, CodiumAI, an Israeli startup developing generative AI to help developers test their code, raised $11 million in Seed funding co-led by Vine Ventures and TLV Partners.

Founded in 2022, by Oded Poncz and Roman Gershman, former engineering… Read More Here

Politics

Protests Explode Across Israel after Impeachment Law Passes in Knesset
Israeli woke up Thursday morning to images of yet another day of massive protests around the country condemning the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. As if the government’s controversial judicial reform plan were not enough of a reason to motivate the protestors, overnight the Knesset passed a separate law known as the “Impeachment Law” that prevents Israel’s Supreme Court from ruling to order that a person can no longer serve as prime minister.

Highways were once again blocked… Read More Here

180 IAF Pilots Threaten Boycott of Duty over Judicial Reforms
Just a few weeks after 40 Israel Air Force reserve pilots refused to take part in a training exercise in protest over the judicial reforms planned by the government of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, now 180 IAF reserve pilots are making a threat to boycott reserve duty as well, reported Israel’s N12 news.

Massive protests have rocked Israel over the past few months, ever since Justice Minister Yariv Levin revealed the government’s plans to alter the nature of Israel’s judicial system. The government’s judicial reform plan would greatly curtail the power of Israel’s Supreme Court to nullify legislation passed by the Knesset… Read More Here 

IPOs and Unicorns

eToro Sees Valuation Plummet by Two Thirds
eToro, the Israeli startup that offers its clients a trading platform, continues to see a drop in valuation, even as it raises new funds. This after being forced to cancel plans for an IPO last year.

The company completed a $250 million financing round that left the company with a valuation of $3.5 billion. But when… Read More Here

Science

Israeli scientists Find New way to Detect gestational diabetes
Israeli scientists from Bar-Ilan University have found that gestational diabetes can be diagnosed as early as the first trimester of pregnancy — months earlier than typically detected – through the use of gut microbes. The new study, led by Prof. Omry Koren, of the Azrieli Faculty of Medicine of Bar-Ilan University, and a team of Israeli and international researchers, is one of the first to show reliable prediction of GDM months before it is typically diagnosed.

This is the second time this month alone that Israeli scientists… Read More Here

Israeli Scientists: hyperbaric oxygen therapy more effective in Treating Fibromyalgia
Israeli scientists have made a new discovery regarding the use of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) for the treatment of head injuries. Researchers from Tel Aviv University compared this treatment with the use of pharmacology (drugs) treatment available today for patients suffering from fibromyalgia as a result of a traumatic brain injury (TBI). The researchers found that the dedicated hyperbaric oxygen therapy is much more effective in reducing pain than the drug treatment, and it even resulted in the healing of 2 out of 5 patients.

Sure, when we think of Israel we think of Startup Nation… Read More Here

Israeli Research finds ‘Super Seaweed’ Offers Health Benefits
A study conducted by Tel Aviv University (TAU) and the Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research Institute has succeeded in dramatically increasing the health and medicinal value of seaweed so that it can be used in the superfood, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic industries of the future.

The scientists said that this new advanced technology promotes an environmentally-friendly approach…. Read More Here

Other Business Stories

Judicial Reform Will Cost Israel Billions
Warnings that the judicial reforms proposed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government will greatly harm Israel’s economy are now supported by Israel’s own Ministry of Finance. The ministry’s Budgets Division head Yogev Gardo released an official report on the matter that states the reforms will cause a downgrading Israel’s sovereign credit rating which could lead to a 5.6% loss in economic growth.

This basically confirms what Israel’s opposition leaders… Read More Here

Israel Business Forum Leaders Warn Government Judicial Reform Plan will Harm Israel’s Economy
The leaders of a group called Israel’s Business Forum met with members of Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party to warn the government that, in their opinion, its judicial reform plan currently before the Knesset, if passed, will harm Israel’s economy. In doing so, they joined former governors of the Bank of Israel Karnit Flug and Jacob Frenkel who expressed such sentiments by writing in an op-ed that the judicial reform plan would “deal a severe blow to the economy and its citizens.” And many Israeli businesses have already announced plans to take their money out of the country due to… Read More Here

Former BOI Governor Jacob Frenkel Condemns Judicial Reform Plan
Jacob Frenkel, a former governor of the Bank of Israel, lashed out at the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and condemned its proposed judicial reform plan at a demonstration against the reforms in Tel Aviv Saturday night. Frenkel and fellow former governor of the Bank of Israel Karnit Flug previously expressed such sentiments writing in an op-ed that the judicial reform plan would “deal a severe blow to the economy and its citizens.”

Massive protests have rocked Israel over the past two months…. Read More Here