Israel Active

The OurCrowd Global Investor Summit in Jerusalem brought together technology leaders and innovators from around the world to see some of Israel’s hottest start-ups. This article features Engie, BIRD, freeD, HIL Applied Medical and UpNRide, who were among the many presenters at the packed event.

Domestic Israeli travel has been enhanced with the inaugural flight from Rosh Pina airport to Eilat. Deputy Minister of Regional Cooperation Ayoub Kara is planning a 34 million Shekel ($8.6 million) program to develop the Rosh Pina airport and turn it into a regional hub for local flights.

Israeli startup EZSave has an app that renegotiates your service provider contracts to optimize your service and save you money. Just send a photo of your bill and EZSave does the rest. It currently works in Israel for phone, Internet, TV and gas bills.

Israeli flavors and natural ingredients company Frutarom has made its second acquisition of 2016 following 12 takeovers in 2015 and 29 in five years. It has now bought US ingredients company Grow for $20 million. Grow has an R&D and marketing center and production site in New Jersey.

Netanya’s jFrog has just raised $50 million – one of the largest ever investments in a Development / Operations company. jFrog’s products allow IT departments to build and maintain new systems.

Israeli video tech company Valens has announced that two of the biggest automakers - GM and Mercedes - are to install its HDbaseT world standard cable technology into their vehicles and products. HDBaseT eliminates waiting time for the display of apps, videos and other content.

Honda has engaged Israeli crowdfunding equity platform company OurCrowd to help its plans to build intelligent automobiles. Honda is already working with Israel’s VocalZoom, which has developed a robust speech interface for cars and motorbikes.

Hundreds of top enterprises and carriers currently run the flagship Cloud products Cloudify and XAP from Israel’s GigaSpaces to enhance IT efficiency and performance. GigaSpace has just raised $20 million of funds for global expansion and product development.

Israeli biotech Advanced Inhalation Therapies (AIT), plans to raise $12 million on NASDAQ. AIT (new name Beyond Air) develops products for the treatment of respiratory infections including Cystic Fibrosis. See previous newsletter articles of its Nitric Oxide treatment.

Sony Corporation has purchased the Israeli chip manufacturing company Altair for $212 million or 25 billion Yen. Sony enters the prestigious Israeli startup market to help its aim to become a world leader in the IoT (Internet of Things) field, connecting various devices to the Internet.