Israel’s SodaStream has launched its new home beer system, the Beer Bar. It produces a 4.5% alcohol beer called Blondie using sparkling water and a unique beer concentrate.  A one-liter Blondie bottle yields approximately three liters of beer. http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-sodastream-launches-home-made-beer-system-1001128835

Ohio’s Treasury office is purchasing $50 million worth of Israel bonds.  It represents the largest single government purchase of Israel bonds in Ohio’s history following purchases of $47.8 million in 2014 and of $42 million in 2013.  (See Jun 2014 … Continue reading →

Grupo Modelo SA, Mexico, producers of Corona beer and part of the AB INBEV Group, the largest beer producer in the world, chose Israel’s ZIM as Carrier of the Year in their annual award Ceremony in Mexico City. http://www.port2port.com/article/Sea-Transport/Liner-Shipping/ZIM-named-Carrier-of-the-Year-by-Grupo-Modelo-SA/

Microsoft has launched a new Venture Capital fund named Microsoft Accelerator.  The fund focuses on Cloud startups and effectively separates Microsoft’s investment arm from its startup incubator program. http://www.geektime.com/2016/06/01/new-microsoft-venture-fund-focuses-on-israeli-ai-and-cloud-startups/

Despite global layoffs, IT giant Intel is still investing in Israel.  It just announced that it is to create a financial technology innovation lab in association with The Floor – a fintech hub based at the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. … Continue reading →

It sounds like something out of “Arabian Nights” but in reality China’s on-line retail giant Alibaba is investing in Israeli startup Twiggle, which is developing next generation e-commerce search technologies.  The funds will grow the company’s R&D team in Israel … Continue reading →

Last week it was Germany’s VW investing in Israel’s Gett.  Now Israel crowdsourced public transit app Moovit is to integrate with German ride-sharing app Uber in 131 cities in 22 countries.  A recent US study showed that ride-sharing customers are … Continue reading →

US singer/songwriter Will.i.am, via his consumer tech label i.am+, has purchased Israel’s Sensiya.  Sensiya’s machine learning, speech recognition capabilities are being incorporated in a number of wearables, including smartphones and smartwatches. http://sensiya.com/index.html http://www.geektime.com/2016/05/02/israeli-machine-learning-startup-sensiya-acquired-by-will-i-ams-i-am/

The cornerstone laying ceremony took place in Yokneam of the new center for Israeli hi-tech giant Mellanox, due to be completed in 2018.  Of the company’s 2,600 employees, 1,800 are in Israel.  It employs staff from Tel Hai to Beersheva, … Continue reading →

Israeli firms taken over in April included SintecMedia, (by Francisco Partners for $400 million); Crosswise (by Oracle for $50M); Ahava (by China’s Fosun for $77M); and Genome Compiler, NorthBit, and Inneractive. http://www.broaderview.org/news