Israel Active

The second edition of the UAE’s FoodTech Challenge received 667 entries from 79 countries. Of the 30 short-listed, three are Israeli. Neolithics (see ), FreezeM (insect protein farming), and Yeap (protein from yeast).  The four eventual finalists will win prizes worth up to $2 million.

Israel’s plant-based vegan food company Vgarden (see previously) is to build its first overseas production facility - in Brisbane, Australia. Vgarden’s customers include Papa John’s, Domino’s Pizza, Pizza Hut, Costco, and Woolworths.

Israel’s Tevel Aerobotics Technologies (see previously) now deploys autonomous drone fruit pickers in Israel’s Golan Heights (Asian pears), Italy (apples, peaches, and nectarines), and California (nectarines and plums).  Next markets are Spain, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Asia.

This article describes Israel’s first-ever climate tech conference in Tel Aviv. It features , , , which have been previously in this newsletter. New to the newsletter are Solato (ice cream machine) and Cellomat (refurbished smartphones). See links & videos below.

Ben Gurion University is hosting a virtual webinar “Israel in Our Lives - Innovation & Impact” featuring Israeli scientists who are pioneering innovations in space. Oct 25 12 noon PT.  Register here.

Israel’s Ramon.Space and Lulav Space are building the navigation system for Israel’s SpaceIL Beresheet 2 lunar lander. Ramon’s radiation-hardened computers will run Lulav’s vision-based landing sensor and algorithms. SpaceIL’s first experiment will examine critical medicines in lunar conditions.

Israeli-founded Scorpio Space is developing affordable and powerful Satcom terminals for space. Its technology allows low-orbit (LEO) satellites to receive and transmit numerous communications beams at once, reducing the cost and power consumption needed to operate them.

With 63 approved US patents, Israel’s Technion Institute is 40th in the world and number one in Europe. It ranks higher than the University of Oxford, Princeton University, and other well-established and well-known universities. Tel Aviv University was ranked at number 68.

When a sink hole appeared in Tel Aviv’s Ayalon highway, the highway authority called in Israel’s Exodigo (see previously) to perform an underground scan. The multi-sensing artificial intelligence platform helped identify corrective actions to reinforce the road against further subsidence.

At Calcalist’s Mind the Tech 2022 Conference in New York, Eyal Desheh, of Tevel Aerobotics Technologies (see previously) explained why automation was essential in front line agriculture. “People just don’t want to do work in agriculture anymore”, he stated.