Israel Active

Israeli startup Matific develops educational math and science games for children in kindergarten and elementary school.  It enables students in 20 countries to access superior math tools in 20 languages at an affordable cost.  Matific has just raised $45 million of funding to expand distribution and R&D.

I reported previously on Israeli startup FST Biometrics and its ability to recognize individuals from facial images, voice analytics and behavior.  Recent attacks in Europe have prompted a huge rise in demand for FST’s identification technology.

I reported previously about Israeli startup Gauzy and its innovative glass that goes from transparent to opaque and back again.  Now Gauzy has been selected to take part in Mercedes-Benz’s accelerator program.  Gauzy already has offices in Israel, Hungary and Los Angeles.

Scientists from Israel, Germany, the USA and UK have genetically sequenced 6000-year-old barley seeds discovered in the Yoram cave in Israel’s Judean Desert. The DNA-analysis will provide essential information as to the origin, domestication and spread of crop plants.

Salah Abd Alhalem, Adam Garah and Ayman Sarha’an from Israel’s Technion Institute have invented a device that correlates a watermelon's internal and external appearance. Using three pictures of the melon at different angles, an algorithm determines its taste rating with 100% accuracy.

Israeli high school students Ron Solan and Rina Svotianovwon a silver and a bronze medal at the annual International Chemistry Olympiad which took place in the Georgian capital Tbilisi.  264 high students competed from 66 different countries.

Tel Aviv will host the fourth annual Fuel Choices Summit on 2-3 Nov. It will explore and exhibit innovation in alternative fuels and smart mobility.  Israel’s Prime Minister will award the 2016 Samson Prize for a major breakthrough in the field of alternative fuels for transportation.  

The barcode self-scanning and checkout payment smartphone app from Israeli startup SuperSmart could be the start of a revolution in Israeli grocery shopping.  The app is currently on trial at an Osher Ad supermarket branch in Tel Aviv.

Israeli cybersecurity Votiro’s unique “zero-day” technology quarantines emails containing malicious software that locks hospital systems and issues ransom demands to unlock it.  Jerusalem’s Alyn Hospital for special needs children has just installed Votiro’s software to protect it against such threats.

Israeli water specialist Netafim has developed Mushroom Master - the world’s first drip irrigation system for mushrooms.  It reduces reliance on expensive heavy peat casing soil to hold large amounts of water.  Underground irrigation also avoids bacterial infestation.