Israel Active

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.

The NIS 6 million from Israel’s Council of Higher Education to establish the Yazamut 360° center for entrepreneurship at Ben-Gurion University has led to 60 proposed new student startups. Nine of these have now signed formal business agreements.

More than 80 officials gathered at the US Department of State for the 34th US-Israel Joint Economic Development Group. They discussed risk management for foreign investments; women’s economic empowerment; quantum information science, artificial-intelligence research and more.

Some 405,000 tourists visited Israel in September 2019, 44% more than in September 2018. Between January and September 2019, nearly 3.3 million tourist entries were recorded, compared to 2.9 million in the same period last year, an increase of 13%.

The first fruits of PepsiCo’s $3.2 billion purchase of Israel’s Sodastream are about to bubble through. Sodastream is to manufacture concentrates for 10 of PepsiCo’s most popular soft drink brands. The savings are mainly environmental - a reduction in the use of disposable plastic bottles.

As reported previously Israel’s REE Automotive enables a vehicle’s drive components to be fully integrated into a wheel, known as a FlatFormer, improving stability, space and energy efficiency.  Toyota Group’s truck subsidiary Hino Motors is now using REE’s technology for its electric trucks.

Israeli-founded startup Fabric, incorporated as CommonSense Robotics, turns underutilized urban retail spaces into 1-hour delivery centers where robots store, sort, and process inventory. Fabric has just raised $110 million to expand its team in both Israel and the U.S.

Israeli insurance software company Sapiens International employs over 2,500 people globally and is still growing. It has just taken over Madrid-based insurance consultants Calculo. The acquisition will help Sapiens enter the Spanish market.

Israeli founded Next Insurance employs 85 people in Israel and over 100 in the U.S. It has just raised $250 million to push its valuation over the $1 billion mark and give it the financial status of a “Unicorn”. The funds will be used to grow its global team and the Israeli R&D center.