Israel Innovation 2.0

Extreme Reality impressed the crowd at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona last week when it unveiled its gesture control technology for mobile devices. The technology will be on some new mobile phones debuting later this year. Content recommendation engine Outbrain raised $11 million and Israeli consumer web companies have attracted the attention of at least one prominent VC. For these stories and more, see this week’s headlines below.

Cleantech
1. Arison Group’s Solaria Teams With Soltec To Build Solar PV Field in Israel
“Israel-based Shikun & Binui Solaria, a subsidiary of the Arison Group’s Shikun & Binui Renewable Energies, will build a 6.7 MW solar PV (photovoltaic) field in southern Israel in collaboration with the Spanish multinational Soltec Renewable Energies. According to the agreement announced this week, the solar power facility will be built at the site of the Timna copper mines, not far from Kibbutz Ketura, where Arava Power is building Israel’s first land-based PV array following a landmark power purchase agreement (PPA) signed in November…”

Investment and Economy
2. Europe’s Top VC On “Covering The Ground Between San Francisco And Tel Aviv”
“Saul Klein is generally thought of as the top VC in Europe. He’s a partner at Index Ventures, which invested in companies like MySQL, Skype, Last.fm and BetFair.”

3. Economy expands 7.8% in 4Q
“The economy grew at the fastest pace in four years in the fourth quarter of 2010, driven mainly by private consumption and investments, the Central Bureau of Statistics reported Wednesday.”

4. Has Silicon Valley Relocated To Tel Aviv?
“Tech oracle George Gilder is not a fan of investing in alternative energy – he sees it as a worthless side pursuit that is diluting the power of Silicon Valley. So the chip guru is looking elsewhere for investment opportunities, namely Israel. “Israel has become a new Silicon Valley just as our own Silicon Valley gets paled over by green goo,” he puts it bluntly.”

5. Content Recommendation Engine Outbrain Nabs $11M in New Funding
“Internet startup Outbrain just grabbed $11 million in a third round of funding, bringing the company’s total financing to $29 million. Previous investors Gemini Israel Funds, Carmel Ventures, GlenRock Israel, Rhodium and Lightspeed Venture Partners all participated in the latest round…”

Information Technology
6. My6Sense Brings Digital Intuition To Twitter On Chrome
“My6Sense offers a content curating service based on the company’s trademark, ‘Digital Intuition’ which relies on an analysis of user online preferences . The company’s product has so far been offered as a content curating solution for the entire spectrum of digital venues, the new Chrome extension breaks away from this. The Chrome extension takes My6Sense proven abilities, and applies them just to a person’s Twitter stream. Once installed, the extension adds a new ‘My6Sense’ column to Twitter’s on-site GUI…”

7. 55 Israeli start-ups at Mobile World Congress
“The Israel Export and International Cooperation Institute brought together 55 start-up companies to present at the booth it is renting at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this year…”

Miscellaneous
8. Coming soon: Wave your hand to control your phone
“Here’s another reason besides video chat that you might want a front-facing camera on your next mobile phone: controlling it by waving your arm or moving your hand…”

9. The 72,000-to-1 ratio
“Here’s a secret: I really have an easy job, writing about Israeli startups and technology; there is so much innovation and creativity in this country, there’s always something to write about. If I were doing this kind of column in, for example, South Korea, Japan, Canada or even Germany, I’d have a much harder time of it…”

During the past week, Israeli telecom Intucell announced it raised $6 million for its technology that will enable wireless carrier networks to work more efficiently amid the growing mobile data demand. Cellogic’s FlyScreen made its iPhone debut and President Shimon Peres and several high-tech CEOs unveiled a new plan for increasing the amount of Israeli Arabs working in high tech. Check below for these stories and the rest of this week’s headlines.

Cleantech
1. SolarEdge Technologies Wins the Red Herring Global 100 Award 2010
“SolarEdge Technologies, an innovative provider of distributed solar power harvesting and PV monitoring solutions, today announced that it has received the Red Herring Global 100 award. The honor recognizes the leading private companies from North America, Europe, and Asia, celebrating their innovations and technologies across their respective industries…”

2. How Israel Will Lead The Search For Oil Substitutes (And How The Rest Of The World Is Watching
“Long considered leaders of R&D and Clean Technology, particularly in the fields of water desalination and solar energy technology, Israel has now set firm sights on leading the shift away from oil dependence. Between now and 2020, the tiny country intends to spend NIS 14 billion (US $ 3.82 billion) to help innovators and researchers test viable alternatives to oil. And while often slow to implement their own technology, cooperation with Europe may change that…”

Investment
3. Intucell Raises $6M Amid Telco Transformation
“Intucell, an Israeli startup, has raised $6 million in a Series A round led by Bessemer Ventures. The company, which was founded in 2008, is one of several helping transform telecommunications networks to handle a wider array of base stations and methods of connecting back to the web…”

4. Venture Geeks Launches New Startup Accelerator Program in Tel Aviv
“GeekMedia, the company behind the Israeli blog NewsGeek (Hebrew) has launched VentureGeeks, a new incubator program in Israel, which will provide seed funding and mentorship to Israeli startups. The Tel-Aviv based incubator is meant to serve as an accelerator program for startups, following the model of US based Y Combinator. Startups which are admitted to the program will receive up to $20,000 in pre-seed funding, office space, administrative services and advice from a group of mentors. The cost for startups is 10% of their equity…”

5. TrendIT cellular demographics analysis start-up raises $3 million
“TrendIT, a cellular demographics analysis start-up founded in 2008 by Dr. Erez Weinroth, has raised $3 million from Avi Shaked, owner of the 888 online gaming company, the Israel Venture Capital Research Center (IVC) reports…”

Information Technology
6. VisualBee 2.0 Powerpoint Presentation Enhancer Marches On
“VisualBee is a presentation enhancement tool that interfaces with the PowerPoint’s GUI in the form of an additional functionality layer. It allows users to dramatically enhance the look, and feel of any PowerPoint presentation with just a click of the button…”

7. FlyScreen lands on iPhone but not as we know it
“FlyScreen, the lock screen replacement for Android and Symbian phones from Israeli startup Cellogic, has landed on the iPhone. But not as we know it…”

Miscellaneous
8. Peres, high-tech leaders to launch Israeli Arab jobs project
“President Shimon Peres and 20 high-tech CEOs will hold a press conference at the Dan Tel Aviv Hotel on Wednesday, February 9, where they will announce the first project of its kind in Israel for employing Israeli Arabs in high tech. The project will include a website where Israeli-Arab students can send their CVs to high-tech companies – www.maantech.org.il…”

This past week Intel announced that it will be investing $2.7 billion into its plant in southern Israel and will be hiring 1,000 new employees this year. Construction began on Israel’s largest desalination plant and Ernst & Young acquired cyber security startup Hacktics Ltd. For these stories and more, see the headlines below.

Cleantech
1. SDL building Israel’s largest desalination plant
“SDL Desalination Ltd said on Sunday it began construction of the world’s largest reverse osmosis desalination plant, hoping to alleviate Israel’s water shortage.”

2. The Aquatic Solar Farm
“Solar power may be clean and green and very efficient in terms of space requirements when it comes to rooftop solar energy systems; but major solar farms require large tracts of land. Addressing this issue is Israel-based Solaris Synergy’s Floating Concentrating Photovoltaic (F-CPV) system.”

Investment
3. Ernst & Young acquires Israeli cyber security specialist
“Ernst & Young announced that Kost, Forer, Gabbay & Kassierer, the organization’s member firm in Israel, has acquired the professional services arm of Hacktics Ltd., an Israel-based organization that provides a groundbreaking approach to identifying and addressing cyber offenses.”

4. Intel readies $2.7 billion Israel investment
“Intel is to invest $2.7 billion in Israel to upgrade its chip plant over the next two years, marking another investment by the chip giant in strategic locations around the world.”

5. Start-up funding grew in 2010
“The concerns for Israel’s high tech start-ups may have been overdone. In a slow year of 2010, 391 Israeli high-tech companies raised $1.26 billion from local and foreign venture investors, reports Israel Venture Capital Research Center (IVC) in its quarterly survey, in cooperation with KPMG Somekh Chaikin Israel.”

Information Technology
6. EMS, CTI and NETCOM to Launch Micro-Modular Data Centers in Israel
“Elliptical Mobile Solutions (EMS) today announced it will launch its Micro-Modular Data Centers™ in Israel together with Channel Partner Computech International (CTI) and communications integrator NETCOM.”

7. ActivePath Brings Smart Online Banking To Email
“As far as new technologies are concerned, Banks are known to be notoriously slow to adopt them. It has been said that for a financial technology startup to succeed it most have some kind of disruptive technology, but not too disruptive. ActivePath, is one such company, having patented a 2Way Email Banking System, that seems to offer this oft sought balance.”

8. Preventing another Wikileaks
“Companies and government agencies anxious to better protect sensitive documents are eager to try the SmartCipher system developed by Israeli startup Covertix.”

Miscellaneous
9. Seeking great tech ideas? Check the garage
“Pot-luck dinners and guest appearances by the world’s top techies characterize GarageGeeks, an informal but influential Israeli ‘high-tech incubator.’”

10. Chinese academics here to learn about Israeli innovation
“China can benefit greatly by following the Israeli model of innovation, a noted visiting Chinese academic told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday.”

The investment arm of auto manufacturer General Motors (GM) announced that it invested in Israeli startup Powermat, the company’s first investment in an Israeli company. AT&T will be opening a mobile app development center in Tel Aviv sometime in 2011 and Jinni, a movie and TV show recommendation engine raised $5 million. For these stories and more, see below.

Cleantech
1. Israel focuses its energy on clean technologies
“After a successful run of high-tech and computer-related innovation, Israel is focusing its ambitions on the next big thing — preparing the world for life without coal and oil…”

Investment
2. NIS 200m VC investment plan comes into effect
“The government plan to encourage Israeli institutional investors to invest in domestic venture capital funds came into effect today…”

3. Movie And TV Show Recommendation Engine Jinni Raises $5 Million
“Israeli startup Jinni has just announced it has raised $5 million in Series B financing to further its personalized TV and movie recommendation service…”

4. Magic Raises approximately $25 million in Recent Filings
“There aren’t too many Israeli companies that have reached this scale: Magic Software (NASDAQ: MGIC), a veteran Israeli software company specialized in cloud and on-premise application platform and business integration solutions, has raised $21.2 million…”

5. GM investment arm invests in Israeli start-up Powermat
“The investment arm of General Motors has made its first investment in Israel. General Motors Ventures has invested $5 million in start-up company Powermat, which has developed a mat on which up to three electronic devices can be charged simultaneously, and wirelessly…”

Information Technology
6. Promisec Named in Top 100 Fast-growing EMEA Companies
“Software vendor Promisec has been recognized within the top 100 fastest-growing companies within EMEA as identified by The Deloitte Technology Fast 500 Europe, Middle East and Africa 2010 winners…”

7. AT&T Opening Three Facilities for Mobile App Devs
“AT&T is building three facilities that mobile application developers can visit to access tools and resources and test their applications, the company said on Wednesday…”

Miscellaneous
8. IBM predicts top 5 technologies in next 5 years
“IBM unveiled its 2010 “Next 5 in 5” list last week, which predicts which five technologies will make a significant impact in people’s lives in five years’ time…”

9. Israel’s pollution regulation gets boost from new law limiting car emissions
“The Environmental Protection Ministry will now have the authority to place stricter limits on emissions from industrial plants and motor vehicles, according to a new law going into effect today…”

10. NIS 600m Disney park, multiplex planned for Haifa
“New Lineo Cinemas (2006) Ltd., owned by the Edery family and Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) investment arm Shamrock Holdings, will build a NIS 600 million 25-screen multiplex and Disney amusement park at the Check Post exit from the Carmel Tunnel in Haifa…”

11. Inside Israeli Tech: 2010 Headlines in Review
“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…”

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!

During the past week, mobile navigation company Waze announced it raised $25 million. Barclay’s has a bullish outlook on Israel and 3D design software company Autodesk added analytics and branding services to its software. For these and more, see this week’s headlines below.

Cleantech
1. India: Israeli experts help to cultivate quality mangoes

2. October 2011 Israeli debut for electric Renault

3. ETV’s Micro Turbine Battery Charger A Game Changer for EVs?

4. Innowattech Applying Piezoelectric Technology To Railroad Tracks For Electricity Generation

Investment and Economy
5. Mobile GPS co Waze raises $25m

6. Barclays: Israel on the way to full economic recovery

Information Technology
7. Autodesk Seek Adds Analytics and Branding Services

8. Israel’s best kept business secret (MediaMind)

Miscellaneous
9. A moment of Glee for Argo Medical

10. Steinitz: Haredi, Arab workforce integration still too slow

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 past week, Emblaze announced that it is ending its production and marketing of the First Else. First Else was intended to be the first Linux-based smartphone device offered by wireless carriers but Emblaze couldn’t find a partner that met its demands. Meanwhile, IDB invested NIS 8 million in the Jewish-Arab incubator NGT and BrightSource Energy’s planned solar plant in the Mojave Desert is expected to be the world’s most efficient. For these stories and more, see this week’s headlines below.

Cleantech
1. Israeli IDE gets 2nd contract with China power plant

2. Is Ivanpah the World’s Most Efficient Solar Plant?

3. Photovoltaic Power Plants in Israel – a reality?

Investment
4. IDB to invest NIS 8M in Jewish-Arab incubator

5. Israeli Group Signs Tech Investment Deal With Chinese City

Information Technology
6. RIP: Emblaze kills First Else

7. Cotendo Selected as 2010 Red Herring North America Top 100 Winner

8. Web startups tap into brainpower (Fixya)

9. Intel may use Comsys to boost handset comeback

Miscellaneous
10. SanDisk CEO Eli Harari proves he’s no flash in the pan

11. Best Places to Work Academia 2010

Emblaze Mobile, a subsidiary of Emblaze Ltd., announced yesterday that it was ending its efforts to bring the First Else, its linux-based smartphone, to market.

The announcement had been expected for quite a few months, especially when it failed to meet its Q2 goal of partnering with a wireless carrier. The phone, which debuted in London last November, was hailed for its user-interface which made it easy to access all of the phones functions and features with just the scroll of the thumb. The quality of the device, from the phone to the camera and everything else, wowed those who got to play with it. In fact, it was named the First Else, because it wasn’t just a smartphone, it was something else.

Perhaps the most disappointing thing about its failure is that it was a completely Israeli device. All the hardware and software was developed in Israel. Had it taken off, it had the potential to create lots of jobs in different sectors and to revive Israel’s long-lost manufacturing industry. There’s so many things it could have done for Israel’s tech sector and the Israeli economy overall. On a personal level, I was looking forward to the day when I could sport the First Else and show it off to friends and acquaintances here and abroad.

Instead, it’s failure is a reminder of the poor condition Israel’s tech industry is in. When I first read Emblaze’s announcement yesterday, I, of course, went on to Twitter and shared the article. I noticed afterward that a few friends had already shared the news with me, and one’s response was “add it to the list of magic tricks coming from Eli Reifman’s sleeves. Now you see it, now you don’t.”

Eli Reifman, the current President of Emblaze, co-founded the company in 1994, and is the one mainly responsible for growing it into a publicly traded company. At its height, the company came close to breaking into the FTSE 100. The company’s glory days didn’t last long though due to many factors.

One reason for its most recent failure with the Else is the approach the company took with developing it. In 2009, Emblaze shareholders tried to take control away from Reifman in protest of the Monolith project that he envisioned would “transform the world of mobile phones” when it launched in 2010. While a visionary with seemingly the right ideas, Reifman’s role in the management and execution of the project was less than stellar.

Unfortunately this isn’t the only such story and is connected to the performance of the rest of the industry. For all the success that Israel has had in innovation on the startup level and for multinationals (R&D for them), it is not sustainable. All of the conferences that I attended this past May and June reflected that in the discussions that took place. The solution is to try to grow big FTSE 100 companies but to do so requires good managers who can transform their startups into large companies and then lead these companies. Emblaze’s story reflects the current and past failures of the industry, and, if things stay the same,  the future of the Israeli tech industry.

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

10. Israel Blesses iPad Saying, “Let The Tablets Go!”