Israel Active

Estimates of the recent natural gas discovery by Energean in the Karish North field, reported previously, have been upgraded by another 25 billion cubic meters (0.9 trillion cubic feet). The new estimate also includes 34 million barrels of light crude oil.

The online payment processing technology from Israel’s Credorax is licensed in all 32 European Union countries. Credorax has now partnered Chinese mobile payment services WeChat Pay, Alipay, and UnionPay, allowing European retailers to accept payments from Chinese customers.

By now readers will know that a Unicorn in financial terms is a company worth over $1 billion. When Israel’s InMode Aesthetic Solutions was last reported here it was close to launching on NASDAQ. It launched in August and its value has since soared to more than $1 billion.

Israeli-founded cybersecurity company ObserveIT identifies insider cybersecurity threats. Nearly half of its 150 employees work at its Tel Aviv R&D center. It has just been taken over by US cybersecurity company Proofpoint Inc for $224 million – Proofpoint’s third Israeli acquisition.

As reported previously Israel’s Tevel Aerobotics has developed an autonomous drone that can pick fruit. Tevel’s chairman Eyel Desheh is also chairman of Isracard, the credit card spinoff of Bank Hapoalim. This article explains both why and how he does both jobs.

As reported previously Israel’s Tactile Mobility develops software that allows cars to “feel” the road.  German car maker Porsche has made several Israeli investments and has now made another, leading a $9 million funding round into Tactile.

Jaguar Land-Rover is partnering with Israeli startup Fleetonomy to launch JLR’s new premium electric chauffeur service Havn. Fleetonomy’s AI fleet management mobility technology is behind the new up-market smartphone app ride request for a Jaguar I-PACE taxi.

Newsletter subscriber Nurit Greenger’s latest article describes the work of Fusion LA - the first Los-Angeles based education accelerator for Israeli startups. Its goal is to commercialize their products with investment, office space, mentoring and networking opportunities.

Israeli startup Mmuze (pronounced “muse”) brings the advantages of a knowledgeable in-store representative to online retailers. Its artificial intelligence and NLU (Natural Language Understanding) generate a virtual shopping assistant, using text, voice, or chat (or a combination) on smartphone or desktop.

Jon Medved, CEO of Israel’s OurCrowd, discusses the success of his crowdsourcing company and explains why he believes Israeli food tech companies to be a big investment opportunity. He also recommends Israeli startups that aim to transform traditional industries.