Google’s Wisdom, Life-Changing Inventions And More- This Week from the Startup Nation

Israeli App to Guide Olympic-Goers Through Rio Streets

the Israeli app Moovit will guide tourists and local residents to the fastest and safest routes to and between competition venues at the Rio Olympic and Paralympic Games this summer. Moovit will provide real-time information in 35 languages on the fastest public transportation routes – buses, trains, subway, light rail transport, ferry boats and cable cars – to some 1.5 million current local users and another 500,000 visitors, according to Rio’s official tourism website (Portuguese).

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Israelis Invent a Gauze that Stops Bleeding in Minutes

The cloud of war constantly hanging over Israel has one shiny silver lining: groundbreaking advances in woundcare developed for the battlefield and then shared with the rest of humanity. One of these inventions is WoundClot gauze, a flexible and easy-to-handle material made of highly absorbent regenerated cellulose (plant cells). WoundClot absorbs about 2,500 percent of its own weight in fluids and forms a coagulating gel membrane with platelets from the blood on the open wound. By absorbing blood and enhancing the natural clotting process, this unique gauze stops hemorrhaging within minutes and naturally dissolves – no need for painful removal – within 24 hours.

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Ride-Sharing Startup via Raises $100M; Revs Up Competition Against Uber, Lyft

Revving up its competition against ride-sharing services such as Uber and Lyft, Israeli startup Via raised a whopping $70 million in financing last week; additional $30 million in strategic investments are expected to close in the coming weeks. This $100 million monster round – one of the largest raised by an Israeli startup so far this year – could help the budding app carve out its own niche in a world that’s becoming saturated with transportation apps, including Israeli mobile taxicab service Gett.

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Now Anyone Can Add Virtual Reality to Games and Services

Imagine pointing your phone at your new washing machine to get an augmented reality lesson on how to operate it. Imagine touring a not-yet-completed house and seeing what it would look like with your furniture inside with the help of virtual reality goggles. The everyday uses for VR and AR are infinite, but until now these sophisticated technologies have only been in the hands of programming pros. Israel’s WakingApp aims to democratize and simplify VR and AR with ENTiTi Creator.

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Content Recommendation Company Outbrain Raises $45m

Israeli content recommendation company Outbrain has raised $45 million. Outbrain cofounder and CEO Yaron Galai revealed the closing of the latest financing round in a blog on the company's website but did not disclose details about investors in the fund raising other than to say that he was personally participating.