Israel High Tech Scene July 8 – July 14

Tel Aviv at sunset, Israel Startup Israel

Israel High Tech Scene July 8 – July 14

New Startups / VC Funding
Israel’s Watergen Provides Water to Ukrainians Suffering After Dam Destroyed

Watergen, an Israeli company specializing in generating water from the air, is helping the people of Ukraine survive the harshness of the Russian invasion of their country. Specifically, the firm responded in an emergency after a damn in Nova Kakhovka was recently destroyed by Russian forces.

Ukraine Chief Rabbi Moshe Reuven Azman is credited with helping to arrange for the deployment of five of Watergen’s machines in the country. He personally… Read More Here

War of the Israeli Cybersecurity Startups: Orca Security Sues Wiz Over Copyright Infringement
Two major Israeli firms are set to go to war with one another as Orca Security, an Israeli cybersecurity startup that specializes in cloud services security, has filed a lawsuit against Wiz, an Israeli unicorn that offers an API security platform, alleging copyright infringement.

The lawsuit seeks to block Wiz from signing any new businesses with technologies that Orca Security alleges infringe on its patents and seeks unspecified monetary… Read More Here

IAA Offers $30 Million for New Bio Tech While New Israeli Startup Vendict Makes Small Raise
Vendict, an Israeli cybersecurity startup that uses generative AI to help security compliance teams with their Governance, Risk, and Compliance, emerged from stealth with $9.5 million in funding led by NFX, Disruptive AI, and Cardumen Capital. Meanwhile, The Israel Innovation Authority (IIA) is investing $30 million in a new R&D center for bio-devices based on bio-chips.

IIA said that as part of the National Bio-Convergence Program, it is offering NIS 113 million – about $30 million -for the establishment of a center that will provide… Read More Here

IPOS and Unicorns
Israeli Unicorn Sisense Flounders
Sisense, an Israeli startup and a unicorn that offers an analytics platform for builders, is laying off about 15% of its workforce, or 100 employees, reported Calcalist. At the same time, new Israeli cybersecurity startup SAVVY raised $22 million in a Series A round of investment led by Canaan after previously raising $8 million in a seed round.

Founded by CEO Guy Guzner, CTO Yoav Horman, CPO Eldar Kleiner, and Chief Architect David Ben Zakai, Savvy enables CISOs and security pros to support the safe adoption and use of business SaaS apps, by providing just-in-time security guardrails that enable users to make better decisions and automate security… Read More Here

Israeli Unicorn Snyk Sees Whopping Drop In Valuation
Snyk, an Israeli cybersecurity startup and a unicorn, has seen its valuation plummet, dropping by billions. And HyperGuest, an Israeli startup that offers a platform for the hospitality industry, raised $23 million in a Series A round of funding led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and included Viola Ventures and new investor Thayer Ventures.

Founded in 2019, HyperGuest’s technology platform empowers Accommodation and Travel Providers to deliver rooms with maximum efficiency. This open… Read More Here

Mergers and Acquisitions
Israel’s SCADAfence Sold to America’s Honeywell
SCADAfence, an Israeli startup providing OT & IoT cyber security, has been acquired by American aerospace and high-tech conglomerate Honeywell. While the terms of the deal were not disclosed, some estimate that it could be worth tens of millions of Dollars.

It was just a few months ago that SCADAfence raised $16 million with investments from Fujitsu, Mitsubishi Electric and Prosegur corporations. The company raised… Read More Here

Israel’s Cobwebs Sells To Spire Capital For $250 Million
Cobwebs, an Israeli startup and web intelligence company, has been acquired by the American private equity firm Spire Capital. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, but reports suggest that it could be worth anywhere from $200 to $250 million.

Cobwebs has raised about $10 million in funding and employs about 170 people… Read More Here

Other Business Stories

Elbit Systems Cuts New $114 Million Deal
Elbit Systems was awarded a contract worth approximately $114 million with an Asian-Pacific country to supply two long-range patrol aircraft (LRPA) equipped with an advanced and comprehensive mission suite. The contract will be carried out over a period of five years. The nation in question was not identified.

Israel is known for its world-leading defense industries like Israel Aerospace Industries, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, Elbit and more. Just last month the Israel Ministry of Defense’s International Defense Cooperation Directorate… Read More Here

Former Celsius Network CEO Alex Mashinsky Charged With Fraud
Alex Mashinsky, the founder and former CEO of bankrupt Celsius Network, an Israeli fintech startup and cryptocurrency lender that once even had the coveted unicorn status with a billion plus valuation, was arrested in New York where U.S. officials are charging him with seven criminal counts. These include securities fraud, commodities fraud and wire fraud. And the company’s former chief revenue officer, Roni Cohen-Pavon, was charged with four criminal counts as well.

The two stand accused of, in effect, running a Ponzi scheme… Read More Here

Israeli Surgeons ‘Reattach’ Palestinian Boy’s Head
Doctors from Israel’s Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem successfully reattached the head of a twelve-year-old Palestinian boy who was said to have suffered “internal decapitation.”

Suleiman Hassan, a resident of the Palestinian Territories in the Jordan valley area suffered the injuries when, while riding his bicycle he was hit by a car. Hassan was then rushed to Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem where his life was saved.

Dr. Ziv Asa and Dr. Ohad Einav performed the lifesaving… Read More Here

BOI Leaves Interest Rate Unchanged At 4.75%
After months of repeated raises to the interest rate as part of its effort to counter global inflation, The Bank of Israel’s (BOI) Monetary Committee on Monday voted to leave the interest rate unchanged at 4.75%. The Bank said it chose not to raise rates yet again because inflation had stabilized in Israel for now.

But the BOI also warned of some troublesome data from the markets and its governor is clearly worried that the continuing domestic political turmoil… Read More Here

Iron Dome David’s Sling Shows More Success
Israel has conducted another series of successful tests of its David’s Sling anti-missile defense system, part of its vaunted Iron Dome system. In the test, air and missile defense system intercepted complex scenarios. A series of exercises and tests in southern Israel were conducted by the Israel Air Force that included simulated advanced threats and enhanced the system’s capabilities.

This came just two months after David’s Sling had its first successful operational interception during Operation “Shield and Arrow” in May… Read More Here