Israel Active

Anglo Media has acquired English-language Israeli media platform Janglo.net and entered into a partnership with Torah Tidbits. Janglo is Israel’s largest online community for English speakers, receiving some 150,000 visits per month. It also posts the VeryGoodNewsIsrael newsletter.

Cybersecurity “Black Unicorns”. Cyber Defense Magazine’s 10 winners of its 2019 Black Unicorn Awards, include three Israeli companies. Checkmarx, XM Cyber and ObservIT. According to Cyber Defense, they all have the potential to reach $1 billion market valuation and be termed a “Unicorn”.

Payments giant Visa has partnered with three Israeli fintech companies through its startup collaboration lab, Innovation Studios. They are ChargeAfter (instant credit), Mesh Payments (online cross-border transaction service) and Zooz (payment platform).

I reported previously on Israeli computer vision startup Cortica. Now, BMW and Toyota’s investment arms, together with Israel’s OurCrowd are partnering with Cortica to launch Cartica - a subsidiary that will develop Artificial Intelligence for autonomous vehicles.

Amazon has given Israeli retailers a 12th Sep date for the launch of its service in Israel. It has urged registered retailers to ready their stock and product list, advising them to prioritize products that could be popular ahead of the Jewish New Year commencing 29th September.

The consortium operating Israel's largest gas field Leviathan is in advanced talks to sell its natural-gas condensate – worth some $1 billion over the 35-year life of the field. The gas production by-product can be used as a raw material in the production of greener fuel or as a diluent for oil.

Just two months ago McDonald’s launched its new Big Vegan burger in 18 Israeli outlets. It has now expanded this to 40 of its 186 branches in Israel. The Big Vegan is produced by Osem-Nestle subsidiary Tivoll. McDonald's is also marketing a double-size vegan burger.

I reported previously on Mobileye’s plans for its massive global development center in Jerusalem.  The cornerstone for the new campus has just been laid by Israel’s PM, together with the Economy Minister, the Jerusalem Mayor and Mobileye’s president and CEO.

Fitch Ratings has affirmed Israel's Long-Term Foreign-Currency Rating (IDR) at 'A+' with a Stable Outlook. It cited strong external finances (with high financing flexibility), robust macroeconomic performance and solid institutional strength. S&P affirmed its AA- rating early in August.

I reported previously on the anti-bacterial coating for fabrics of Israel’s Sonovia when the startup was called Nano Textile. Sonovia has just been awarded a 2.4 million euros grant from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program.