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In the News: See the list of Tel Aviv’s hottest startups, life-saving tech, & more

In the News: See the list of Tel Aviv’s hottest startups, life-saving tech, & more

Aug 26, 2019 |

Did you know? “Tel Aviv is the city with the highest number of startups per capita in the world, according to the 2018 Global Startup Ecosystem report — more than 6,000, of which 18 are unicorns.” See Wired’s list of Tel Aviv’s hottest startups, including OurCrowd portfolio companies Zebra Medical Vision and Arbe Robotics. This week Amazon officially announced its launch of operations in Israel, while Intel unveiled its first AI chip, which was developed in Israel. The chip was designed to target large data centers and is already being used by Facebook. Congrats to soil analytics startup CropX on its $10M raise, which OurCrowd was happy to take part in. Startup Nation and beyond Startups saving lives: Check out the research showing Israeli startup MedAware can reduce prescription errors and save up to 100,000 lives, and read up on Edgybees’ lifesaving drones. From the Sussita to Mobileye, what is the secret of Israel’s automotive technology success? Why Israel is automotive tech’s global engine. The revolution is coming – Sight Diagnostics’ 10-minute blood test device shifts focus from lab to doctor’s...

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In the News: Israel keeps on innovating 💡

In the News: Israel keeps on innovating 💡

Aug 19, 2019 |

Israel received a visit from Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg this week, where she launched Facebook’s “Playground”, a “new hub for startups and entrepreneurs in Israel to build connections, develop skills, and foster innovation.” Israel’s Defense Ministry also announced the launch of an innovation hub aimed at fostering security-related technologies and strengthening the relationship between the country’s civilian and defense markets. In recent acquisition news, Salesforce buys the Israeli field service software company Clicksoftware for $1.35B. Startup Nation and beyond Israel – from Startup Nation to FoodTech Nation? See it in CTech. FoodTech is a hot topic now, as the United Nations warns: Climate change threatens the world’s food supply. Meet ClimaCell’s new weather app – alerting you when it’s about to rain, down to the minute, all around the world. Which Israeli startups are playing a leading role in data-driven digitized production? Read it in Forbes. Top tech news this week FoodTech…Featuring Beyond Meat: Subway is testing out a meatless meatball sub. Here’s why. Mobility…Zoomcar eyes a shortcut to 130 million users — partners with Ixigo. Marketplace…Over 100,000 students...

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What’s in the Cards? Tech-Forward Mobile Solutions Offer the Convenience of Paying by App

What’s in the Cards? Tech-Forward Mobile Solutions Offer the Convenience of Paying by App

May 17, 2016 |

In our fast-changing digital world — where new mobile apps continue to transform the way we live, work, and play — FinTech is reshaping how we handle our money online and on the go. Take a look, just as an example, at peer-to-peer (P2P) money transfers and remittance, which are worth well over $1 trillion. Today, only a small part of those transactions – in the US, about $5 billion – are conducted via mobile. But mobile transaction volume is likely to grow exponentially in the coming years —driven by FinTech innovation — such that (according to some estimates) P2P transactions could conceivably jump to $86 billion in the US by 2018. With the future growth of FinTech intricately linked to mobile technologies, mobile payment solutions are an important piece of the puzzle. Here are some of the ways that mobile apps are already redefining and reinventing how our money is being shared, received, and transferred via mobile. All in the Family It’s become more convenient to repay people digitally using P2P payment services, than to pay using cash....

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Whimsical Thoughts About a Waze Acquisition — What an Investor Needs to Know

Whimsical Thoughts About a Waze Acquisition — What an Investor Needs to Know

May 30, 2013 | , ,

It’s not every day you hear about titans like Google and Facebook going head to head in a race to buy out a company. This hasn’t exactly been the case with Waze, the social navigation app. It’s been rumored to have at least a couple big players knocking down its door. The latest news in the Waze buyout saga says that the Facebook-Waze talks are on the fritz, due to the fact that Waze is opposed to moving its Israel-based operations to Facebook’s HQ in California. Whether the buyout will happen or not, there is no doubt that Waze — the technology — has changed the way we travel from point A to point B. So, for this blog, we’ve created a road map describing the origin and meteoric rise of Waze. I’ve been living in a cave for 5 years, what is Waze exactly? Waze is a GPS with a twist. Unlike a standard GPS that just displays a map (if you’re really fancy, it also pulls satellite data to optimize your planned route), Waze rallies all its users...

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White Hat Hacker, Nir Goldshlager, Saves Face for Facebook—Again…

White Hat Hacker, Nir Goldshlager, Saves Face for Facebook—Again…

Mar 24, 2013 | ,

An Israeli cyber-security specialist saved some major face for Facebook this year. Of course I am referring to Mr. Nir Goldshlager, a cyber-security specialist with the Israeli cyber-security firm—of which there are a growing number—Avnet. Why am I taking the time to present this Nir Goldshlager fellow, you ask?  Well, according to the Times of Israel this year Goldshlager found a way to gain control of any Facebook account he wanted—twice. That’s right, he informed Facebook about the bug, they fixed it—or so they thought—and then he found a bug in the “repaired” code. Not to worry Facebook users of the world, Nir let Facebook know about the second bug as well and they have since fixed the problem. This guy is no rookie, my friends. It turns out this isn’t the first time Mr. Goldshlager has helped out the social networking giant, nor is Facebook the only web-based organization that he has helped. For the second year in a row, he can claim the top spot on the Facebook security hall of fame and in 2011 Nir ranked...

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