Tel Aviv at sunset, Israel Startup Israel
Israel High Tech Scene May 4 – May 17
New Startups / VC Funding
Israeli Startup Agora Raises $34 Million For Real Estate Platform
Agora, an Israeli startup offering new tech for real estate firms, raised $34 million in a Series B round of funding led by Israel-based growth fund Qumra Capital.
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Founded in 2019 Bar Mor, CEO, Lior Dolinski, CPO and Noam Kahan, CTO who met in their army service in the Israeli Defense Forces Elite Unit 8200, Agora has built a software platform that manages data of investments and assets for the real estate industry… Read More Here
Israel’s Opmed.Ai Offers New Healthcare Optimization Engine
Opmed.ai is a new Israeli startup that offers a platform the firm says will optimize the operational capacity of operating rooms using AI-driven software. The company raised $15 million in Series A funding for its new medical scheduling platform. The news comes just days after Opmed released its Proactive Block Release, which it calls a “game changing” feature.
Co-founded in 2022 by Dr. Mor Brokman Meltzer, Avi Paz, and Prof. Baruch Barzel, Opmed.ai provides a healthcare optimization engine utilizing AI and network… Read More Here
Israeli Founders Get Fast Track To NYC Success With New $20 Million Fund
Israeli entrepreneurs with promising tech startups just got a major boost. 97212 Ventures, a New York-based venture capital firm specializing in early-stage Israeli startups, unveiled a new $20 million fund today. This fund aims to propel promising Israeli pre-seed and seed-stage companies into the heart of the NYC tech scene.
“This moment offers unique opportunities for us to access top innovations from Israel that have the potential to become unicorns,” said Eyal Bino… Read More Here
Mergers and Acquisitions
Pango Makes A Power Move: Acquires Gett For $175 Million
In a move that shakes up the Israeli transportation scene, Pango, the leading Israeli parking app, has acquired taxi-hailing giant Gett for $175 million. The deal was signed on Thursday, marking a significant consolidation within the mobility sector.
Gett’s shareholders will receive approximately $175 million for all of the company’s shares. In addition, the shareholders will also receive Gett’s cash reserves of about $40 million… Read More Here
Stephen Schwarzman’s Blackstone Buys Israel’s Priority Software
Priority Software, an Israeli provider of mission-critical business software, is being acquired by Stephen Schwarzman’s private equity firm Blackstone. While the details of the acquisition have not been revealed, it will reportedly leave Priority Software with an $8 billion valuation.
Blackstone is an alternative asset manager with more than $1 trillion in assets under management including global investment strategies focused on real estate, private equity, infrastructure, life sciences, growth equity, credit, real assets, secondaries and hedge funds… Read More Here
Israeli Unicorn Noname Security Acquired By Akamai For $450 Million
Israeli cybersecurity startup and unicorn Noname Security was acquired by America’s Akamai Technologies. Akamai has agreed to acquire all of the outstanding equity of Noname for approximately $450 million, after customary purchase price adjustments. The closing of the transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions, is expected to occur in the second quarter of 2024.
Noname Security hit the coveted unicorn status – a $1 billion valuation – in December 2021 when it raised $135 million in a Series C round of funding… Read More Here
Permira To Acquire Majority Of Israeli Unicorn BioCatch At $1.3 Billion Valuation
BioCatch, an Israeli biometrics and behavioral unicorn that helps to fight against bank fraud, is being acquired by Permira Growth Opportunities II. Permia will acquire a majority stake in BioCatch, which will give the firm a $1.3 billion valuation.
Permira is a global investment firm that backs successful businesses with growth ambitions. Founded in 1985, the firm advises funds with a total committed capital of approximately €80 billion and makes long-term majority and… Read More Here
Alcon Pharmaceuticals Buying Israeli Glaucoma Treatment Developer Belkin Vision
America’s Alcon Pharmaceuticals is buying out Israeli healthtech company Belkin Vision, which has developed a laser treatment for glaucoma. The deal is for as much as $335 million, with $60 million to be paid now. Belkin is a fully homegrown Israeli firm, from start to finish, which was founded by and named for the scientist who developed its technology, Michael Belkin.
Founded in 2013 by Professor Michael Belkin, Belkin Vision boasts the firm has developed an efficient, non-contact, and automated glaucoma laser therapy accessible to all ophthalmologists. The Belkin Vision Eagle is currently available for sale in the EU and the UK. It is 510(k) cleared in the United States but is not yet… Read More Here
Other Business Stories
Israeli Bright Data Wins Suit Against Musk’s X In Web Scraping Battle
In a closely watched case with implications for the future of web scraping, Israeli data collection company Bright Data has emerged victorious in its legal battle against social media giant X Corp. (formerly known as Twitter).
X Corp. filed the lawsuit in late 2023, accusing Bright Data of using automated tools to scrape millions of user profiles, follower information, and posts… Read More Here
Air Canada Suspends Flights To Tel Aviv Until August
The Canadian carrier had initially suspended flights until July, but the security situation has prompted a further delay.
This news follows a similar announcement by United Airlines last week, which postponed the restart of its Israel service until June. As a result, travelers seeking direct flights between Israel and North America this month have limited options, with El Al Israel Airlines currently the only carrier offering this route… Read More Here
Israel’s AEYE Health Gets First Ever FDA Approval For AI Retinal Imaging To Prevent Blindness
AEYE Health, an Israeli firm that develops AI retinal imaging and diagnostics, received the first ever FDA clearance for a fully autonomous AI that diagnoses referable diabetic retinopathy from retinal images obtained by a handheld camera.
AEYE Health said combining a fully autonomous AI with a portable handheld device introduces a new and affordable screening… Read More Here
IPOs and Unicorns
Israel’s Wiz Makes Largest Ever Raise, Hits $12 Billion Valuation
Wiz, an Israeli unicorn that offers an API security platform, has now become the “superest” of unicorns, let’s say a “super-duper” unicorn, hitting a $12 billion valuation. That is more than the entire GDP of some nations. The valuation came with a raise of $1 billion led by Andreessen Horowitz, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Thrive Capital.
The raise was the highest ever made by a privately held an Israeli high tech firm… Read More Here
Israel’s AI-Native Data Platform Provider WEKA Hits Unicorn Status
Israeli startup WekaIO (WEKA) offers an AI-native data platform provider for next-generation workloads is now a unicorn with a valuation of $1.6 billion. The coveted unicorn status came after WEKA raised $140 million in an oversubscribed Series E funding round comprised of combined primary and secondary transactions led by Valor Equity Partners, a previous investor in the company. Under the terms of the deal, Valor’s founder, CEO and Chief Investment Officer, Antonio Gracias, will join WEKA’s board.
Founded in 2013 by Israeli entrepreneurs Liran Zvibel, Maor Ben-Dayan, and Omri Palmon, WEKA… Read More Here
Politics
Is Benjamin Netanyahu’s Government Cracking?
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was hit by a shocking rebuke Wednesday night from his defense minister Yoav Gallant. In a public speech directed at Netanyahu personally, Gallant called on the Prime Minister to finally decide on who will govern in Gaza after the Iron Swords War against Hamas is over, calling Netanyahu’s indecisiveness on the matter a danger for Israel. And Netanyahu was not happy about it.
Yoav Gallant opened his remarks by… Read More Here
US Military Completes New Gaza Pier For Transfer Of Humanitarian Aid
Construction of the new pier for the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza has been completed. It was built by the American military and will be under the security supervision of the US. If the American government and the European Union agreed to oversee all of Gaza’s ports, then Israel would be able to end its naval blockade of the area.
The project was begun a few months ago in order to open a new route for the delivery of food, medical supplies and other goods to Gaza… Read More Here
