Israel Active

Chinese automaker Geely will be installing SuperVision ADAS from Israel-based Mobileye in Lynk & Co’s Zero Concept electric vehicle. Mobileye will also shortly begin testing autonomous vehicles in Dubai and aims to roll out full Mobility-as-a-Service by 2023.

Israeli VC company Greenfield Partners has closed a $150m fund to continue its strategy of supporting early growth stage Israeli and Israel-related technology and tech-enabled businesses.

Israel’s Tactile Mobility has signed a deal to provide BMW with its road-sensing software that allows smart cars to “feel the road” and adjust like a human driver. Volkswagen subsidiary Porsche has already invested in the Israeli startup (reported previously).

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Singapore's Temasek is to acquire Israeli-based micro-irrigation company Rivulis for a reported $365 million. Temasek intends to retain Rivulis' current management, as well as its headquarters in Kibbutz Gvat. Rivulis’ 2019 sales were some $400 million. 400 of its 1800 staff are in Israel.

Israel’s Jifiti (reported previously) has signed a strategic partnership agreement with Mastercard. Jifiti has grown from being purely an in-store gifting platform into enabling point of sale financing. Its technology allows banks and retailers (e.g. Apple & IKEA) to offer immediate credit by using Mastercard.

The Tel Aviv municipality held Israel’s largest-ever bootcamp (reported previously). Speakers included MK Nir Barkat, OurCrowd’s Jon Medved, and IAI CEO Aharon Aharon.  Volunteers managed 100 projects, 20 speakers, and 60 mentors over Zoom calls and WhatsApp groups.

Israeli transcription startup Verbit (reported previously) now has more than 120 employees and has raised a total of $65 million. 2020 has been its most successful year ever - growing to 500 paid customers (including Harvard and Stanford Universities) and seeing revenues grow fivefold.

Israel-based Hetz Ventures has closed its second flagship fund totaling $77 million, bringing its total amount to $130 million. Hetz has invested in 10 pre-seed Israeli AI, Big Data, cybersecurity, fintech, and DevOps companies since its launch in 2018.

Israeli cybersecurity startup foundry Team8 has launched Team8 Fintech – a platform to establish and scale-up transformative financial technology companies. Team8 is investing $100 million, looking to satisfy the demand for digital solutions in a post-Covid-19 world.