Tuesday Tech Update — July 31st
Israel is Switzerland for Jews, financial comedy, and Citi Bank’s Tel Aviv accelerator. It’s the Israel America Tech List update.
But first, “If I Were a Rich Man”, but on jet packs. If this isn’t the correct use for this technology then I don’t know what is. Click the pic to see it on instoosh (the Hebrew word for Instagram).
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Stay In the Know
Israel is Switzerland for Jews, according to Ronen Bar-El, an economics professor at Israel’s Open University, in an interview with The Times of Israel. This statement comes as they investigated why an early investor in Bitcoin reported that when he tried to repatriate several hundred thousand dollars’ worth of Bitcoin earnings from Gibraltar to Israel, his local Bank Hapoalim branch refused to accept the wire transfer. The crackdown comes after three of Israel’s major banks have come under criminal investigation over the past seven years by the US Justice Department for allegedly helping thousands of US citizens launder money and evade taxes. Bank Leumi admitted wrongdoing in 2014, agreeing with the US Justice Department that it had conspired to aid and assist a minimum of 1,500 US taxpayers to prepare and present false tax returns to the US Internal Revenue Service by hiding income and assets in offshore bank accounts in Israel and elsewhere around the world. Bank Leumi agreed to pay $400 million in fines to the US and New York State governments. Source
Perhaps that’s part of the motivation for this week’s $684 million purchase of Bank Leumi’s credit card business Source
In true comedic fashion, reports surfaced that the third most common source of foreign investment in Israel is the Cayman Islands. Entities registered in the Caribbean territory provided $6 billion, or 6.6% of all foreign funding, to Israel ventures in 2016, the most recent year for which data is available. The only countries that beat the Cayman Islands were the U.S. with 16.8% and the Netherlands with 12%. This is more than China which apparently didn’t even make the list. The Cayman Islands’ has gained a reputation as an offshore financial haven due to lax oversight and protection of business secrets. What the data reveals is that a significant number of foreign investors choose to route their Israeli business deals through the Cayman Islands, obscuring their real identities. Source
Can’t help but thinking part of the concealed identity motivation is driven investors who don’t want their industry peers knowing they’re putting money into Israel. Many Israeli companies located their official headquarters in other countries again to make it easier for investors to hide the fact that they’re investing in Israel. It’s a sad status quo that is evidently only increasing as Israel’s business sector strengthens over time.
In Other News
Projects are starting to firm up as part of a 40 million fund promoting partnership between the Indian and Israeli government as part of PM Narendra Modi’s visit to Israel in 2017. Here are the recent collaborations that have been announced:
Bacsoft (Israel), a maker of IoT devices, and Energy Efficiency Services Limited (India), an energy service company of the Indian government, will work together on increasing the water and energy efficiency in villages in India through the creation and application of water and electricity management systems and Internet of Things ( IoT) monitoring devices.
Ubiqam Ltd. (Israel) and Frog Cellsat Limited (India) — a maker of radio frequency equipment — will work together to develop mobile solutions for the Indian cellular market to help mitigate the interference in cellular networks and improve network quality.
Agrosolar Irrigation Systems Ltd. (Israel) and Vyoda Private Ltd.(India) will jointly create solar energy-based water pump systems for irrigation that are cost-effective, efficient and suitable for any type of well, to increase electricity production and lower maintenance costs.
Sanoculis Ltd (Israel) and Appasamy Ocular Devices (P) Ltd. (India)will work together to develop affordable surgical devices to help ophthalmologists treat glaucoma in India at lower costs.
Opportunity of the Week
Citi’s “hype” video for the acceleratorApply to Citi banks fintech accelerator in Tel Aviv. The program targets Fintech, Data analytics, AI and Cyber security companies. Unclear if blockchain/cryptocurrency companies are in their wheelhouse.
Citi was one of the first banks to launch a FinTech accelerator in 2013 in Tel Aviv. The program has since supported seven classes with 68 startups graduating from the four-month program, raising over $350 million. The next cohort starts December 2018 for 4 months at Citi’s Tel Aviv Innovation Lab. Last date to apply is August 15th 2018 at 12:00pm and you can do so at the following link.
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
Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) paid around $100 million to acquire Redkix, an Israeli team messaging startup that had raised over $10 million from Salesforce Ventures, Wicklow Capital and SG VC. Axios
Searchlight Capital is among several private equity firms interested in acquiring a control stake in Bezeq Israel Telecom, per Globes. Axios
AllCloud, an Israeli cloud consulting company, raised $7 million in funding from backers like Discount Capital and Hallett Capital. Axios
BPI Finance, a French government investment bank, has committed an undisclosed amount to Jerusalem Venture Partner’s 8th fund with a target close of $200 million. Globes
Takeaway.com, a European online food delivery company, has agreed to acquire Israeli online food company 10bis from TA Associates and its founder Tamir Carmel for €135 million, a 10x multiple on revenue. Globes
OrthoSpin, an Orthopedics robotics company, has raised $3 million for its smart, robotic external fixation system for orthopedic treatments led by Johnson & Johnson Innovation — JJDC Inc. Globes
Siemplify, an Israeli cybersecurity company, has raised a $14 million Series B led by Jump Capital, and joined by existing investors G20 Ventures and 83North. Jump Capital Partner Saurabh Sharma will join the company’s board. Globes
MaterialsZone, a Tel Aviv based startup allowing researchers to collaborate sharing new lab-made research materials, has raised $1 million from French businessman Philippe Bouaziz’s investment firm Sarona Ventures. Calcalist
Octopai B.I., an Israel-based metadata management startup, has raised $4.5 million in a Series A funding round led by Israel-linked venture capital firm North First Ventures, Octopai announced Sunday. iAngels Crowd, Gefen Capital Management, and existing investors Moneta Seeds Management Company and Club100 Plus Communication Investments also participated. Calcalist
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