Israel Tech Startups and Innovations: Weekly Roundup November 2 – November 8, 2024

Tel Aviv at sunset, Israel

The nine Israeli firms on the Time Magazine list include Aporia, BeeHero, D-ID, InnerPlant, Laguna Health, Nanox, OrCam and… Read More Here

Voice AI Technology Startup Kardome Innovates Speech Recognition Solutions | Israeli Tech
Kardome is an Israeli startup that develops voice AI technology. The firm raised $10 million in a Series A round of funding led by Korea Investment Partners.

Voice AI, also known as voice artificial intelligence, is a technology that enables computers to understand and respond to human speech. It encompasses a range of techniques, including speech recognition, natural language processing… Read More Here

Neri Oxman’s OXMAN Lab Launches O° Platform: Revolutionary Biomaterial and Robotics Technology
OXMAN, a design lab from Neri Oxman, the wife of billionaire investor Bill Ackman and a former M.I.T. professor, dedicated to nature-centric innovation, has introduced O°, what the firm calls a groundbreaking platform that harnesses biomaterial, digital, and robotic technologies. This platform empowers the creation of 100% biodegradable textiles and wearables, crafted entirely from organic materials without any reliance on petrochemicals… Read More Here 

The intensity surrounding this debate is being significantly exacerbated by the current environment where we are fighting a deeply costly Bill’ Debate: Should Non-Serving Israelis Receive Subsidies… Read More Here

National Library of Israel Unveils New Hannah Senesh Photographs
In 1944, the Jewish paratrooper Hannah Senesh (Szenes) was deployed into Nazi-occupied Europe by the British in a last-ditch effort to rescue Hungarian Jews from death camps. After her capture, she was tortured and ultimately executed, but her story and her poetry – in particular “A Walk to Caesarea” (commonly known as “Eli, Eli” / “O Lord, My God”) – transformed her into an iconic symbol within modern Jewish, Israeli, and Zionist culture.

In 2020, Ori and Mirit Eisen from Arizona, USA, graciously enabled… Read More Here

Israel’s Parliament Approves Laws to Punish Families, Minors Involved in Terrorist Acts
Early Thursday morning the Knesset – Israel’s Parliament – approved two new laws aimed at punishing the families of terrorists as well as minors who commit acts of terror.

These new laws were promoted by members of the right-wing parties in the Knesset. Their passage stands as a much-needed win, of sorts, for Prime Minister Netanyahu as this comes after some setbacks for his government. The other day Netanyahu was forced to remove from the Knesset agenda… Read More Here

1,000 Global Authors Join Israel Boycott Campaign in Literary Protest
More than 1,000 authors around the world have signed on to a new boycott campaign against Israel. Some people may be asking right ow, “so, what else is new?” Many more have probably never even heard of most of the writers who signed the letter released by this new Israel bashing campaign.

Science/Culture
Weizmann Institute of Science Breakthrough: Antibody Treatment for Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Shows Promise for Multiple Cancer Types
In a new study, researchers from Prof. Idit Shachar’s laboratory at the Weizmann Institute of Science have discovered that a certain type of aggressive breast cancer prompts nearby immune cells to build “molecular bridges” between themselves, which causes these cells to refrain from attacking the cancer and leads to immune suppression. An antibody treatment that blocks the building of these bridges was shown to restore the immune system’s ability to attack… Read More Here

Blood Sugar Management Linked to Brain Health in Landmark Study
A new international study, led by Ben-Gurion University of the Negev as part of the DIRECT PLUS Brain MRI trial, has brought to light how blood sugar control can significantly impact brain health.

Brain age is a concept that refers to the biological age of your brain, as opposed to your chronological age. It is based on the idea that certain brain… Read More Here

The terms of the acquisition were not… Read More Here

CrowdStrike Expands Cloud Security Services with $300 Million Acquisition of Israel’s Adaptive Shield
CrowdStrike, an American cybersecurity technology company, is acquiring the Israeli startup Adaptive Shield, which provides SaaS Security Posture Management (SSPM) services. While the terms of the deal have not yet been revealed, Israel’s Calcalist reported that it is for $300 million.

Founded at the end of 2019 by Maor Bin and Jony Shlomoff Adaptive Shield says that its SaaS Security Posture Management Suite (SSPM) removes the burden and risk of SaaS misconfigurations by providing “deep visibility and… Read More Here

Other Business Stories
Israel Orders 25 F-15EX Fighter Jets from Boeing in $5.2B Defense Deal
The Israel Ministry of Defense (IMOD) signed what it called a landmark transaction to acquire the next generation of F-15 fighter jets – the F-15IA – from the United Sates. Israel is purchasing 25 of the advanced aircraft from Boeing for $5.2 billion.

This comes as the American Air Force is said to be sending its own F-15 fighter jets to the Middle East in anticipation of another… Read More Here

20 Major Airlines Demand Financial Guarantees from Israel Before Resuming Flights
A coalition of twenty international airlines has issued an ultimatum to the Israeli government, demanding immediate action to regulate flight cancellation and overnight stay compensation, and to shield them from excessive legal liability. Failure to comply, they warn, could result in ceasing their operations in Israel. Israel’s Calcalist reported that the foreign carriers sent a letter to the Knesset Economics Committee on the… Read More Here

Israeli Tech Forum Plans New National Airline for US-Israel Direct Flights
For more than a year now it has been difficult to fly to and from Israel, with Israel’s national airline El Al being the only airline to consistently offer service. This is because since the October 7, 2023, barbaric Hamas terror Massacre Israel has been under constant attack by rockets launched from both Gaza and Lebanon, so foreign carriers cancelled their flights. Now the Israel High-Tech Forum says it wants to free Israelis from the whims of foreign airlines by establishing… Read More Here