Israel High Tech Scene August 19 – 25

Tel Aviv at sunset, Israel Startup Israel

Israel High Tech Scene August 19 – 25

New Startups / VC Funding
Fore Biotherapeutics Raises $75 Million for Cancer Therapy
Fore Biotherapeutics, an Israeli medtech startup developing new cancer treatments, raised $75 million in a Series D round of funding led by SR One and Medicxi.

In conjunction with the Series D financing, Matthew E. Ros will step down from his role as Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors to redirect his energy toward other professional pursuits, effective September 1, 2023. Shawn M. Leland, PharmD, RPh, current advisor to SR One and former… Read More Here

Grip Security Raises $41 Million
Grip Security, an Israeli SaaS security startup, raised $41 Million in a Series B round of funding led by Third Point Ventures. This brings the startup’s total investment to date to $66 million. At the same time, established Israeli defense contractor Elbit Systems sealed a deal to supply the firm’s multi-layered ReDrone Counter Unmanned Aerial Systems (C-UAS) to the Netherlands in a deal worth $55 million.

As part of the contract, Elbit Systems will supply several mobile, stationary and deployed configurations of the ReDrone integrated Counter-UAS solution… Read More Here

Mergers and Acquisitions
SentinelOne’s Stock Up on Reports of Possible Sale
SentinelOne, an Israeli cybersecurity firm, just might be for sale. After Reuters reported the possibility the company’s shares went up by 14% on Monday but dropped again Tuesday by 3.45% closing at $16.24. SentinelOne closed trading Tuesday with a market cap of $4.7 billion.

This is only half of the SentinelOne market cap’s high in January 2021.

According to the report, several… Read More Here

Solegreen Looking To Dump Failing Kuubix
Israeli renewable energy firm Solegreen said that it might have to close its US subsidiary Kuubix Energy if a buyer for the American company cannot be found. Solegreen acquired Kuubix in April 2021 and has lost roughly $80 million in the two and a half years it has owned the company.

Solegreen is traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange and informed the exchange of its plans. The company also told the TASE that it had as much as $52 million right down in the second quarter of 2023 of the fair value of Kuubix. Meanwhile, Solegreen’s stock has lost almost 90% of its value from the company’s one… Read More Here

EU Putting Wrench Qualcomm’s Acquisition of Autotalks
Qualcomm’s planned takeover of Autotalks, an Israeli startup that develops V2X solutions for use in smart cars, is in jeopardy after European regulators raised concerns. The European Commission said that it has accepted the requests submitted by 15 EU Member States to assess the proposed acquisition of Autotalks by Qualcomm under the EU Merger Regulation (‘EUMR’).

Qualcomm is an American firm, but it operates in Europe and so the… Read More Here 

Other Business Stories
Shekel Drops to 6 Year Low Against USD
The New Israel Shekel continues to drop against the U.S. Dollar, breaking the 3.8 to the Dollar threshold over the weekend, its lowest rate since 2017. The Shekel has now lost 3% against the Dollar since the start of August alone; even though, the USD is not up against other major currencies. The Shekel lost more – 3% – of its value against the Euro since the start of August… Read More Here

UBS Wealth Report Shows Worldwide Declines – Big Declines for US And Israel
UBS – Union Bank Switzerland – one of the world’s most important banks released its Global Wealth Report for 2023 (the 2022 figures) and there is some very bad news for both Israel and the U.S. The report showed that both countries saw wealth reduced in 2022.

The report was compiled by the Credit Suisse Research

Even recent interest rate hikes made by the Bank of Israel have… Read More Here

New York City Mayor Eric Adams Hails Israel on Visit
New York City Mayor Eric Adams was the guest of honor on Wednesday evening at the “White City Soirée” in Tel Aviv where he spoke with a group of top Israeli business, finance, and technology leaders. In his remarks, the Mayor said that all of Israel was a “unicorn.” Interestingly, Tel Aviv recently made the top of the list of cities in the world that create the most high-tech unicorns, startups with a $1 billion valuation.

In his remarks at the event celebrating New York-Tel Aviv economic ties, Mayor Adams hailed Israel’s culture of innovation and encouraged… Read More Here

Foreign Controlled Firms Pay Israelis $17 Billion 2018 – 2021
In the four year period of 2018 – 2021, Israeli firms owned by foreign entities brought a total of $17 billion into the country in salaries for Israelis alone. This is according to data released by Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics. Israel Startup Nation depends on foreign investment to continue with all of its innovations and successes. In some cases, foreign investors take majority stakes in Israeli startups. And when an Israeli firm makes its exit, it is either through an IPO or a buyout by a foreign concern.

This is why foreign-owned firms are such a significant part… Read More Here

Selina Shares Plummet More Than 96%
Israeli hospitality company Selina is in big trouble. The company has seen its shares drop 96% since it first went public back in October of 2022 with a 41% one day drop last Friday. And fellow Israeli company StreamElements, a startup that offers interactive tools to help companies manage communities and create revenue for streaming content creators, is also in trouble announcing the laying off of 35% of the firm’s workforce, or about 60 people.

StreamElements already let go of dozens of people… Read More Here

Elbit Systems Makes $55 Million Deal with Holland
Grip Security, an Israeli SaaS security startup, raised $41 Million in a Series B round of funding led by Third Point Ventures. This brings the startup’s total investment to date to $66 million. At the same time, established Israeli defense contractor Elbit Systems sealed a deal to supply the firm’s multi-layered ReDrone Counter Unmanned Aerial Systems (C-UAS) to the Netherlands in a deal worth $55 million.

As part of the contract, Elbit Systems will… Read More Here

Israel Police Recommend Moshe Hogeg Be Indicted For Fraud
Moshe Hogeg may soon be indicted in Israel on charges of fraud related to his activities in the cryptocurrency markets. Israel Police said they have recommended to prosecutors that an indictment be filed against him over $290 million in fraud. Specifically, police charge that Hogeg committed “fraudulent offenses under aggravated circumstances, theft by Authorized, money laundering and other crimes.”

In Israel, first the police investigate and then… Read More Here