So, after a nail-biting week in the U.S., in which Biden's Democrats saw, smelled, and tasted the road to POTUS victory, while Trump's Republicans put up a fight at every turn, oh yeah, and COVID-19 cases continue to alarmingly grow.
It seems though, that once the whole election party died down a bit, VCs, investors, and leading multinational corporations again turned their eye away from the 'land of the free' to the Startup Nation's innovation hub, which continued to provide global solutions to an ever digitizing world.
During November's second week (8th-15th) of 2020, Israeli cyber played center star yet again, while customer journey solutions showed why it has become a market darling, Israeli foodtech had quite the feast, a veteran VC launched a new fund, and so much more...
Mergers & Acquisitions
Snapchat acquires Voca.ai for $70M
A year after catching the eye of American Express, Israeli startup Voca.ai, which develops vocal AI virtual agents, has caught the attention of another market giant, Snap, which plans to acquire the company for $70 million. Read more...
Zix adds Israeli startup CloudAlly to its ecosystem
Israeli startup CloudAlly, which develops cloud-based data backup and recovery solutions, announced that it has been acquired by Dallas-based cloud email security giant Zix Corporation for $30 million. Read more...
KMS Lighthouse acquires Reps.AI
Israeli startup Reps.AI, which develops an AI-powered service agent insight platform, announced that it has been acquired by knowledge management platform KMS Lighthouse for an undisclosed amount. Reps AI was founded in2017 by Boaz Omanuti and Shachar Grembek and was valuated at $20 million, according to its last funding round in 2019. Read more...
Investments
High Lander lands $3M
Israeli startup High Lander, which develops end-to-end software-based autonomous drone fleets management solution, announced a $3 million Seed funding round. Read more...
ReSec secures $4M
Israeli cyber startup ReSec, which develops a non-anti-virus malware penetration solution for enterprises, announced that it has secured a $4 million Series A funding round. The investment was led by QBN Capital, with participation from Disruptive Ventures, Talanx, and Pico Venture Partners. Read more...
Cellwize raises $32M
While 5G networks are being deployed globally and mobile tech adoption is at an all-time high, Cellwize, which develops an AI-powered radio access network platform to automate 5G network deployment, announced the completion of a $32 million Series B funding round. Read more...
OutSense drops Series A announcement
Israeli startup OutSense, which develops an IoT device for analyzing human waste, announced a $2.2 million Series A funding round. The investment was led by Peregrine Ventures. The startup was founded in 2016 and is an alumnus of the fund, now breaking free with the completion of its technological development. Read more...
Lightico nabs $13M
Israeli startup Lightico, which develops an enterprise-consumer interaction platform, announced a $13 million funding round. The investment was led by Oxx, with participation from Capital One Ventures, Harmony Partners, and more. Read more...
SentenielOne lands Mega funding round
Israeli cyber firm SentinelOne just won’t stop. After raising $120 million a year and a half ago, and following another $200 million payday from February this year, Reuters reports that the company has completed another funding round totaling $267 million. This recent funding round was based on a company valuation of $3 billion, which is almost 3 times the February total. Read more...
Limaca Medical reels in $1.25M
Israeli MedTech startup Limaca Medical, which develops an endoscopic ultrasound biopsy solution, announced a $1.25 million funding round out of a total of $1.5 million. The investment was led by Trendlines Group, with participation from Vincent Tchenguiz’s Agriline, Limaca Chairman Carl Rickenbaugh, and a private investor. Read more...
Torr snacks on Seed funding
Israeli Foodtech startup Torr, which develops natural and healthy food ingredients, announced that it had secured an undisclosed Seed investment from one of the biggest snacking companies in the world, Mondelēz International, which led the investment through its venture and innovation hub SnackFutures. The investment saw Strauss-Group’s The Kitchen Hub also get in on the feast.
Zero Egg cracks $5M Series A
Zero Egg, which develops plant-based egg alternatives, announced the closing of a $5 million Series A funding round. The investment was led by Powerplant Ventures, with participation from existing investors Valor Equity Partners, Unovis Asset Management, and Straus Group’s The Kitchen FoodTech Hub. Read more...
VC action
Peregrine launches 5th fund
Peregrine Ventures announced the launch of its fifth fund, Peregrine Growth, which has raised $101 million for startup investment. This time around the VC fund will focus on late-stage startups that are on the verge of an IPO, acquisition or merger. Read more...
Collabs & Strategic Partnerships
Washington Youth Soccer teams up with Playform
Israeli sports-tech startup Playform, which develops a computer vision and AI-driven training tool, announced a strategic partnership with Washington Youth Soccer (WYS), one of the top U.S. youth systems with over 90,000 listed players. Read more...
Israeli startup Kameleon joins forces with Xilinx
Israeli semiconductor startup Kameleon Security, which develops a cyber protection chip for servers, announced a collaboration American tech company Xilinx, a developer of flexible and adaptive processing chips, and was recently acquired by AMD for $35 billion. Read more...
Time for a laugh
AI cameraman confuses bald for ball
Israeli startup Pixellot develops an AI-driven platform for live sports streaming and training insight. However, during a Scottish soccer match, the "smart" camera got a bit confused. Read more...