$2.8 Billion Invested in Israel in First Half of 2016
The forecasts of wobbly world economies and an Israeli civilian workforce in need of more human resources did not stop the cash flow of investments into Israeli startups in the first half of 2016. In fact, Israeli high-tech capital raising reached an amazing $2.8 billion in the first six months of the year, according to a report by IVC Research Center.
Israeli technology companies raised an astonishing $1.7 billion in Q2/2016, in 187 financing deals. In Q1/2016, 174 Israeli high-tech companies raised $1.1 billion in private financing rounds.
Israel’s Fintech Startups Reap Fruit of Citi Mentorship
Israeli start-up Sling’s recent acquisition by Brazilian micro-credit company Avante for an undisclosed amount is just one example of the potential for startups fostered by the financial technology hubs set up in Tel Aviv. Sling, whose platform allows micro-merchants to accept electronic payments from consumers via smartphones, was part of Citi’s third Tel Aviv-based financial technology accelerator program — a mentoring course that lasts four months and aims to foster technology in the financial sector.
To date, a total of 53 startups have graduated from Citi’s Israel accelerator, managing to raise a total of $185 million in investments from parties in Israel and abroad, Tsafrir Atar, head of Citi’s program in Tel Aviv, said in an interview.
Samsung President Poised to Ramp up Investing in Israel
The president and chief strategy officer of Samsung likes to kite surf – whenever he is in California, he heads to the ocean and rides the waves. He has one problem though: how can he best record the experience? Young Sohn usually asked his wife to take the video, and she would use her smartphone.
But the video wasn’t great quality to be able to capture the fast-moving pace in the distant ocean waves. One way to fix it is to go with the Silicon Valley approach: there’s an app for that.
Israeli System Keeps Hospital Data Safe from Ransomware
For hackers, raiding servers for data and ferreting through it to extract nuggets of useful information is old hat. Far easier and – apparently more profitable – is ransomware, where hackers send out malware and “lock up” a computer or network, releasing it back to the control of its owners only when they pay a ransom. Especially lucrative, hackers have found, are ransomware attacks against hospitals – institutions that generally don’t have high levels of computer security, but do have high-value information that needs to be protected.
It’s such institutions that Israeli cyber-security firm Votiro especially seeks to protect with its zero-day exploit — referring to brand-new threats — protection technology, with Jerusalem’s Alyn Hospital for special needs children the latest hospital in a growing list to adopt Votiro’s technology.
Israel to Relax Rules for Foreign Tech Workers
Hundreds of foreign workers will begin working at Israeli high-tech companies and startups this year. In recent months, a special team has been looking into the importing of workers from overseas for Israeli companies, given the shortage of thousands of engineers. The team will submit its recommendations to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the coming weeks.
Prime Minister's Office director general Eli Groner and Ministry of the Economic and Industry director general Amit Lang are heading the team, which also includes Innovation and Industrial Research and Development Administration director general Avi Hasson, representatives of the Ministry of the Interior, the Administration of Border Crossings, Population and Immigration, and others.
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