Israel Active

Israel’s FieldIn won second prize for startups at the International AgriVest Conference held at the Weizmann Institute of Science, for its technology that increases the efficiency of growing crops by reducing overall use of pesticides and eliminating spray mistakes..

ForeScout, Sisense, WalkMe and SMS Assist are the Israeli representatives on the first-ever Forbes 2016 Cloud 100 - the ultimate list of the top 100 private cloud companies in the world. Companies are recognized by customers and peers for financial growth and excellence.

A delegation of Israeli start-ups developing technologies to assist people with disabilities are showing their products and services in Sydney Australia. They include Paratrek, Sesame Enable, NiNiSpeech and yooocan. (I reported and previously)  

From California to Africa, there is a global water shortage. Israel - one tiny country in the middle of a desert, has found remarkable solutions. Can its success be replicated?  Businessman and New York Times bestselling author Seth Siegel explains.  

Tel Aviv municipality has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Government of Kenya to collaborate on the $14.5 billion development of Konza - a new “techno city” in south-eastern Kenya. Kenyans will train at three Tel Aviv Global initiatives.

While global honeybee populations have declined, Israeli bees are holding steady.  Reasons include Israeli research into Colony Collapse Disorder, boosting bee immune systems, developing nectar-rich plants, Israeli Honey Board support for beekeepers, eradicating Varroa mites and planting 100,000 seedlings to give bees a varied diet.

When I reported previously on Israeli urban on-foot iPhone navigation app Sidekix, it was available in 15 cities.  Today it can be used in 60 cities in the US, UK, Europe and Israel and is growing at a rate of about five cities per month. An Android version is also planned.

Intel Israel is building what it claims will be the world’s smartest building. The 34,000-square-meter R&D center in Petach Tikva will contain thousands of smart sensors to control security, lighting, climate, recycling, parking, presentations, restaurants and coffee for 2500 employees.

Israeli scientists at Israel's Agricultural Research Organization (better known as the Volcani Institute) have identified a genetic mechanism in apricots that controls temperature sensitivity. Starting with apricots, they are now developing varieties of crops that thrive in temperatures where previously they couldn’t even grow.

Israeli marketing analytics developer Datorama provides an end-to-end marketing analytics solution for business users. Its Marketing Integration Engine uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) to connect online and offline data. Datorama has just raised $32 million to fund more R&D.