December 18th 2018 — Israel America Tech List
Winter in just a few short days, Christmas around the corner, and Lenny Dykstra, a former baseball player for my Philadelphia Phillies, is studying Torah (Jewish Bible) every Wednesday night. It’s time for an Israel America Tech List. We’ve got lab-grown steak, cervical cancer, and taxes.
But first, click here for a tour of Falafel Belgi, maker of a Belgian waffle made from falafel batter. A falafel waffle. The latest craze in Israel, it’s exactly what you think it is. Franchises of Falafel Belgi could be coming to a city near you soon, but in the meantime, try this recipe at home.
Saw this on social media? Sign up for the email list.
Stay In the Know
Home Grown Tax Problem: The Israeli Tax Authority has released a memo stating that employees in startups may have to pay 50% tax on their stock options if those options can only be exercised at a liquidity event such as IPO or acquisition. They say this is a situation where the profit would be viewed as a bonus and thus taxed as regular income at the obscenely high income tax rate that Israel possesses of 50%. Options dependent upon employee or stock performance, as well as options provided after IPOs locked up for 2 years, would be taxed at capital gains rate of 25%. Apparently this is not a new rule but a clarification of the existing rule. Naturally, the Israeli tech sector, the primary driver of the Israeli economy, was pissed off about this new development. Source
Home Grown Cancer Detector: Biop Medical, an Israel-based cancer detection startup, has received US FDA approval for its first product, a device that maps the cervix and identifies cancerous and precancerous cells in epithelial tissues. The company has raised $4.45 million to date, from investors including South Africa-based medical equipment company Avacare Health Group and the Israel Innovation Authority. Source
Home Grown Quantum Research: The Defense Ministry and the Israel Science Foundation have set up a new NIS 100 million ($27 million) fund over five years to boost the study of quantum technologies and develop the research infrastructure necessary to boost Israel’s global position in the growing field. The fund will invest in a variety of fields, including quantum communications, quantum simulation, quantum sensors such as atomic clocks, magnetic field meters and quantum materials. Source
Home Grown Drone Operators: Apparently one of the most desirable jobs in the Israeli Defense Forces field units is called a “dronist” — a combat soldier attached to a team at all times whose job it is to put a drone into flight when the situation calls for it. The IDF is training 50% more dronists per year. Read this Globes report for a great rundown of the Israeli drone market and where they see the industry heading.
In Other News
Home Grown Steak: Aleph Farms, an Ashdod-based food tech startup has grown a minute steak made from natural beef cells isolated from the cow into a fully 3-D structure similar to conventional meat. From their press release: the breakthrough not only retains the true texture and structure of beef muscle tissue steak, but also the flavor and shape. Source
Would you eat this?Opportunity of the Week The applications are open for Our Generation Speaks, a 3-month accelerator program for the summer in Boston accepting 30 Israelis and Palestinians in their 20’s. I know several companies that have launched out of this and have raised a few hundred thousand dollars in seed money right out of the gate, including a company putting solar panels on rooftops in Gaza and a company helping guide people to art galleries. The teams are composed of Israelis and Palestinians and they fully fund the entire trip and stay. Apply here before January 7th.
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
Optibus, an Israeli provider of public transportation scheduling and operations SaaS, raised $40 million in Series B funding. Insight Venture Partners led, and was joined by Alibaba. www.obtibus.co via Axios
TechSee, an Israeli provider of video-enabled tech support, raised $16 million in Series B funding led by Scale Venture Partners. Axios
Chorus.ai, an Israeli AI sales talk analysis company, has closed a $33 million series B led by Georgian Partners with participation by returning investors Redpoint Ventures and Emergence Capital. Simon Chong, Managing Partner at Georgian Partners, will join the board. Globes
AccessFintech, an Israeli financial technology company, has closed a $17.5 million series A from Citibank, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase & Co. Globes
Wisdo, an Israeli social network advice app startup, has raised $11m in seed funding from angel investors. Globes
Cloudify, an Israeli network virtualization company, has closed a $7 million round from KPN Ventures, CreditEase Israel Innovation Fund and existing investors including Claridge Israel, BRM Group and VMware. Globes
Avanan, an Israeli cloud security company, has closed a $25 million financing round from existing investors StageOne Ventures, Magma Venture Partners, and Greenfield Partners. Globes
K Health, an Israeli AI-powered free primary healthcare platform startup, has raised a $25 million series B led by 14W, Comcast Ventures and Mangrove Capital Partners, with participation from existing investors Lerer Hippeau, BoxGroup and Max Ventures. Globes
ViAqua Therapeutics, an Israel-based medical aquafarming startup for shrimp, has raised money from Singapore-based VisVires New Protein Master Fund. No financial terms were disclosed. Calcalist
Did someone forward this to you? Want to sign up to receive this email? Click here to subscribe.
