In 2010, Israel’s Internet sector came of age, mobile hit its stride, more capital began to flow into Israel, and several companies grew. Here is a video recap of some of the biggest headlines and stories from 2010.
Happy 2011!
Browsing Posts in Mergers and Acquisitions
Motorola's Droid X uses iSkoot's Kalaida™ Platform and Qualcomm's Snapdragon mobile processor
Qualcomm announced earlier today that it has acquired Israel’s iSkoot, a leader in “mobilizing internet services on the handsets most people use today”, for an undisclosed sum (rumored to be between $50-100 million).
iSkoot’s Kalaida™ Platform utilizes cloud computing to enable device manufacturers and mobile operators to bring popular social networks and new internet services to mobile handsets in a way that minimally impacts network and handset performance.
As part of Qualcomm Innovation Center, a Qualcomm subsidiary, iSkoot will focus on three areas: continued support of its current customers; integrating its offerings with Qualcomm’s products; ,and developing open source data management contributions for mobile devices.
With the growing popularity of smartphones and tablets, such as the iPad (the fastest-selling gadget of all time), the demand for such a service is huge and will continue to be with the release of new mobile devices and the launch of 4G networks in the U.S. and elsewhere. Qualcomm’s purchase of iSkoot indicates several things about the telecommunications industry and Israel:
- Considering the fast pace at which development in the mobile industry is moving right now and that the 4G space is still open to newcomers, several key players in mobile hardware and software, such as AT&T and Intel, have looked to Israel over the past few months to help them try to gain an edge.
- The acquisition is the latest in a string of Israeli startups getting acquired by major companies, including Google, AOL and Dell, this year. What impact these acquisitions will have on the growth of Israeli startups in the future is to be seen, though it currently doesn’t look good. Whatever the impact it has on Israel’s startup culture, it seems that considering this sale and the opening of new innovation centers here, the heart of the future of 4G and mobile communications is slowly becoming centered in Israel.
- According to Globes, iSkoot is the first Israeli company that Qualcomm, “the world’s largest supplier of mobile telephone processors and owner of the intellectual property for the CDMA protocol” has bought, though it has had a development center in Haifa since the mid-1990s. Given that AT&T, Qualcomm and Intel all have R&D centers in Israel, will Verizon look to Israel next?
Here’s a video of iSkoot’s Social Net app in action:
Image via yonghokim.
Related stories:
AT&T introduces “speed-dating” for app developers in US and Israel
Inside Israeli Tech: AT&T in Israel and 9 More Headlines
During the week of April 25, 2010, Google acquired its first Israeli company, LabPixies, a widget publisher. Better Place started to make inroads in China and Al Gore-backed GreenRoad continued to receive attention abroad. For these stories and more, see this week’s 10 Israel-related headlines below.
Cleantech
1. Better Place makes inroads in China
2. Israel to share agricultural know-how with struggling African farmers
3. Israel’s Al Gore-Funded GreenRoad Seeks to Cut Emissions, Bills
Investment
4. Google acquires Widgets powerhouse Labpixies
5. Sapiens Acquires Harcase, a P&C Insurance Software Provider
Information Technology
6. MiniFrame Introduces New SoftXpand Product Suite to Address Multiple Vertical Markets
7. Clouds helping start-ups grow, but lack enterprise capability, investors say
8. Magic Software Looks to the Clouds
Miscellaneous
9. Israel, U.S. ink open skies pact
Israeli business newspaper, Globes has reported that Google acquired Israeli app publisher LabPixies. The purchase, which is estimated to be at $25 million, is Google’s first in Israel. LabPixies will be integrated into Google’s R&D office in Tel Aviv which focuses on web and mobile development, such as YouTube Annotations and Google Trends, and will focus on iGoogle efforts in the Europe, Africa and the Middle East. The acquisition is expected to also help Android app efforts.
Below is a timeline with some of the major events showing Google’s road to Israel and its acquiring LabPixies.
During the week of February 21, 2010, news broke that Al Gore’s investment firm invested in Israeli road-safety tech company, GreenRoad. Currensee raised $8 million and innovate!2010 in Tel Aviv was announced. For these stories and the rest of this week’s headlines, see below.
Cleantech
1. GreenRoad raises $10M from Al Gore’s Generation Investment Management
2. Terra Venture Partners Billed Israel’s Most Active Venture Capital Investor in 2009
Investments and M&A
3. $8 Million Series B For FOREX Social Network Currensee
4. Critical mass at core of Israel’s tech prowess
Information Technology
5. Moving HQ overseas: Rony Ross, Panorama Software (Interview)
6. Actimize, a NICE Company, Positioned in Leaders Quadrant of Magic Quadrant for Web Fraud Detection
Miscellaneous
7. startup contest innovate!2010 coming back to tel aviv
The week of February 7, 2010, was big for investments and M&A. Social music player TuneWiki raised $7 million and among Israeli companies to be acquired were Convergin, which was picked up by Oracle, and Exanet, bought by Dell. IBM continues to grow its XIV channel and 3DV and PrimeSense continue to be big players in providing sensor technologies for consumer electronics. See below for these stories and more from the week of February 7, 2010.
Cleantech
1. Better Place Sees Electric Cars on Israeli Roads by End of 2011
2. Arava Power: Agreements for 15 Initial Solar Fields
Investments and M&A
3. Oracle Acquires Israeli Startup Convergin
4. Dell Acquires Storage Vendor Exanet
5. Social Music Player TuneWiki Raises $7M From Motorola Ventures, Others
Information Technology
6. Interview with Frederic Aknin, Sparkeo: Innovators in E-Learning Series
7. Point, click: a review of gesture control technologies
8. IBM Expands Channel Program Around XIV Storage Line
9. Opera and Perfecto Mobile Partner To Offer Remote Testing on Real Mobile Devices
Miscellaneous
10. Case Study: Students teach the CEOs
11. Emblaze Brings Patent Infringement Suit against Microsoft, Apple
During the week of January 24, 2010, electric car venture Better Place raised $350 million. Vringo, a video ringtone company, filed for an IPO and data storage company Continuity Software announced that it added service management software to its offerings. For these stories and the rest of this week’s 8 headlines, see below.
Cleantech
1. Israeli wastewater firms to benefit from new regulations
2. Better Place wins $350 m. investment
Investments
3. Analyst: Israel to benefit from new MSCI standing
4. Video Ringtone Company Vringo Files For $13.8 Million IPO
Information Technology
5. San Mateo’s Clarizen manages growth against major software competition
6. Continuity Software adds SLA management to DR software
Miscellaneous
7. Secrets of the box-office smash
During the week of January 17, 2010, Israeli mobile ad tech company Mobixell announced that it bought Internet firm 724 Solutions. A new report indicated that most Israeli hi-tech companies are planning to hire this year and the Google breach from mainland China was further analyzed. For these stories and the rest of this week’s 10 headlines, see below.
Cleantech
1. Sunday Solar to Build Large Solar Array on “Damaged” Negev Land
Investment and Economy
2. Mobixell buys Web firm 724 Solutions
3. Israel’s PowerSines seeks IPO abroad in H1
4. Most high-tech companies plan to hire people this year
Information Technology
5. Google vs. China: The Tip of the Cyberwar
6. Never Mind the Valley: Here’s Israel
7. Women in Technology: Rony Ross, Panorama Software (Interview)
Miscellaneous
8. Want an MBA from an entrepreneurial hot spot? Look to Israel.
During the week of January 10, 2010, CA acquired Israel-based Service Level Management (SLM) software company Oblicore and mobile TV chip maker Siano announced that it raised $24M. Israeli researchers announced that they cracked the encryption of 3G GSM networks. Find out more about these headlines and the rest of this week’s 11 headlines below.
Cleantech
1. Arad Technologies wins lucrative water metering deal in India
2. Climate Change and Clean Tech in Israel
3. Israeli businesses seek Texas partners in green technology
Investments
4. CA Confirms Oblicore Acquisition
5. Mobile TV chip maker Siano raises $24M
6. Amobee to buy UK’s RingRing Media
Information Technology
7. Will cable and satellite TV soon be outdated?
8. Researchers use PC to crack encryption for next-gen GSM networks
Miscellaneous
9. Israel rushes to Haiti’s aid
During the week of January 3, 2010, Dot Hill bought storage company Cloverleaf for $12.5 million. China’s Sanhua invested in Israeli solar firm, HelioFocus and new vulnerabilities were discovered in Twitter and Google Calendar. For these stories and more, check below for this week’s 9 Israel-related headlines.
Cleantech
1. Are Energy Advances in Israel in Parallel With Those Abroad?
2. China’s Sanhua invests in Israeli solar firm
Investments
3. Dot Hill confirms storage virtualization acquisition
4. Clean tech gets big piece of venture-capital funding
Information Technology
5. 3D sensor co PrimeSense attracts Vegas attention
6. Vulnerabilities Discovered In Twitter, Google Calendar
Miscellaneous
7. Researcher: Computers in schools do not improve students’ results
