December 11th 2018 — Israel America Tech List
Hannukah is over, the Eagles lost a heartbreaker to division rivals the Dallas Cowboys in overtime, and Frank Sinatra’s yarmulke sold for more than $9,000. It’s time for the Israel America Tech List. We’ve got crypto-catastrophe, travel tech, and Brazil.
But first, a brief little doc on Hilik Magnus. He is the guy that goes abroad and saves Israelis who are lost, whether from terrorist attacks, drug addiction, or natural disasters. Many Israelis go and travel after they finish their mandatory army service around age 21. Some get in trouble. Hilik comes and saves them. He is legendary to the point where young Israelis don t-shirts with the saying “Hilik won’t find me”. Take a look and put a face to the name.
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Stay In the Know
Crypto-catastrophe: What is up with Sirin Labs? It’s the Israeli blockchain startup led by Moshe Hogeg (who just bought the Jerusalem professional soccer team…which is typically a huge red flag of excess to begin with…) Sirin Labs raised $158 million in an initial coin offering (ICO) in December 2017, after previously raising $97 million from investors for a total of $255 million. Last week they announced they were shipping a few thousand blockchain phones, a mobile phone that allows users to trade and use crypto. Bloomberg reports this week that they are considering abandoning production of their phones as they are in a cash crunch! They raised a quarter of a billion dollars and only have 6–12 months of cash left. Cryptocurrency prices are the lowest they’ve been in months. Consensys, which just opened an Israel office and is launching competitions for startups in the country, just fired 13% of its workforce. Companies who have raised hundreds of millions are shuttering due to the price decline. Has the reckoning come? It could make sense to buy one of the Sirin Labs phones as a sympbolic relic of cryptocurrency’s rise and fall…
Thrilling Travel Tech: Four Israeli travel tech startups out of a group of 10 from around the world have reached the final stage of competition run by the United Nations World Tourism organization, the UNTWO. 2,771 companies applied to the competition and the finals are in Madrid on January 23rd. Here are the startups: Refundit provides a mobile solution for VAT refunds for tourists. SeeVoov offers a social, interactive, video-based trip planner. Howazit allows travel suppliers like airlines, hotels, and car rentals to get immediate feedback on any problems their clients encounter. Pruvo is a low-cost hotel booking company that uses an algorithm that claims to guarantee cheaper outcomes than such major market players as Trivago, Booking and Travelocity. Source
Australian Amplification: HeraMED continues the trend of Israeli startups that IPO on the Australian stock exchange. The company has developed a small monitor for home use designed to track fetal heartbeats. The device connects to the cloud and shares data with physicians. They raised A$6 million in its offering at A$0.20 per share. The company’s value for the IPO was set at A$17.5 million. Following completion of the IPO, each founder holds 9.1% of the company’s shares. The company has raised $3.4 million since it was founded, and had $1.5 million in cash before the IPO. Source
In Other News
Brazilian Bonanza: The Israeli government’s tech investment arm, the Israel Innovation Authority, has announced a partnership with the Brazilian Agency for Industrial Research and Innovation (EMBRAPII) to advance collaboration on technological innovation and industrial R&D. The joint venture will have a budget of $5 million over five years to support large-scale collaboration projects in the fields of IoT, life sciences, energy, and agriculture for up to 24 months. SourceJob of the Week In light of a great piece in Globes on Crop-X, which is putting sensors in the soil for agriculture and calls itself the “Internet of Soil”, we’re showing a few jobs from Crop-X based out of Israel.
Take a look at their careers page and get in touch with me for intros should you want to inquire about any other types of roles not necessarily listed.
If you have a job or other opportunity of some kind, let me know and I will happily include it in future emails!Tech Deals
SOOMLA, an Israeli mobile ad monetization measurement platform has raised $2.6 million Series A financing round led by JAL Ventures with additional funds from existing investors. Globes
Quali, an Israeli software automation and orchestration company, has raised $22.5 million Series-C financing round led by Jerusalem Venture Partners and with participation from existing and new investors including Dell Ventures, Kreos Capital, Evergreen Ventures, Gemini Israel Ventures and ORR Partners. Globes
WhiteSwell, which is developing a minimally invasive catheter-based approach to treat acute decompensated heart failure, hasraised a $30 million series B financing round led by RA Capital Management and an InCube Venturessyndicate. Globes
TechSee, an Israeli augmented vision startup, has closed a $16 million Series B financing round led by Scale Venture Partners, with participation of existing investors including Planven Investments, OurCrowd, Comdata Group and Salesforce Ventures. Andy Vitus, partner at Scale Venture Partners, will be joining the board. Globes
Songo Media Group, a group of companies with advanced digital media and ecommerce tech, has raised $3 million from IBI High Tech Mutual Fund. Globes
Engineering for All (“EfA”), has raised $900k inseed financing from Israeli digital health technological incubator eHealth Ventures. Globes
Twine Solutions, an Israeli digital on-demand thread dyeing system, has raised $22 million led by New Era Capital Partners and Maverick Ventures Israel. COATS Group, HP tech Ventures, and existing shareholders Landa Ventures and Gefen Capital also participated. Calcalist
Voca.ai, an Israeli company developing voice assistants for call centers using natural language and AI, has raised $2.6 million led by Lool Ventures with participation from Flint Capital and other investors. Calcalist
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