Israel Innovation 2.0

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!”

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 April 4, 2010, Israeli startup Qlipso announced it bought the assets of video web site Veoh Networks. Israeli biofuel company HCL CleanTech is set to open its U.S. headquarters in North Carolina and Autodesk is looking to expand its R&D operations in Israel. For these stories and more, check out this week’s 10 Israel-related headlines below as well as a video of Qlipso’s presentation at Twiistup 7 this past February.

Cleantech
1. HCL CleanTech, an Israeli biofuel company to open U.S. headquarters in Triangle area

2. Test Driving The Better Place Electric Car

Investments and Economy
3. Our economic success story

4. Start-up Qlipso buys Web video service Veoh

5. US giant Autodesk looks to Israeli R&D

Information Technology
6. Doe Run Shortens Downtime With iSolve Virtual Knowledge Manager

7. 3 promising Israeli Startups to look for on MS ThinkNext 2010

Miscellaneous
8. Israel Aid Pays U.S. Dividends That Exceed Cost: Steve Rothman

9. AOL Finally Finds Someone To Buy ICQ (In Russia Or China)

10. Nouriel Roubini – The Economist Who Foresaw the Global Financial Crisis

During the week of March 21, 2010, a plan for Eilat to have Israel’s largest wind farm was revealed. LucidLogix raised $8 million to boost game graphics chips and Wanova’s desktop virtualization software was released. For these stories and more, see this week’s 14 Israel-related headlines below.

Cleantech
1. South Korea Looks to Collaborate With Israel on Renewable Energy

2. Experts to discuss Israel’s leadership in water resource management and conservation

3. Eilat to have Israel’s largest wind farm

Investment
4. LucidLogix raises $8M for boosting game graphics chips

5. Mentor Graphics Acquires Valor Computerized Systems, Ltd.

6. S&P affirms Israel’s A rating, outlook stable

Information Technology
7. uTest Finds 908 Bugs In Web And Mobile Apps Of Major U.S. TV Networks

8. Wanova’s desktop virtualization software now available

9. AnyClip Launches: Aggregates and Syndicates Clips from Films

10. Commtouch Goes On Attack With Outbound Spam Protection

Miscellaneous
11. CCTV to cover Israeli towns

12. A first look at the Simpsons’ upcoming visit to Israel

13. Israel Steps Up Efforts to Bring Back Expat Scientists

14. The World’s Oldest Man (lives in Israel)

During the week of March 7, 2010, SolarEdge was named a Top 10 energy innovator by Fast Company. Digital advertising company Eyeblaster filed for a $115 million IPO and Apple rejected an app for the iPhone that detects radiation from the phone. For these stories and more, see this week’s 10 Israel-related headlines below.

Cleantech
1. Fast names SolarEdge top 10 innovator

2. Investing In Electric Cars

Investment
3. Todacell scores $1 million

4. Battery Ventures raises 1st new fund since ’07

5. Eyeblaster Files for $115 Million IPO

Information Technology
6. Voltaire brings InfiniBand switch to the masses

7. Redbeacon Fine Tunes Service, Goes Social, Continues To Be Awesome

Miscellaneous
8. App Detects iPhone Radiation; Apple Nukes

9. Survey: More women than ever hold managerial posts

10. ‘High-tech managers prefer to work with their army buddies’

(Catch Media interview from 2007)

During the week of February 14, 2010, the Eilat-Eilot International Renewable Energy Conference took place and included the announcement of potential plans for joint solar energy projects between Israel, Egypt and Jordan. News broke that Google is in early talks to acquire Israel’s Catch Media to better compete with iTunes and Tawkon announced its solution for avoiding radiation from mobile phones. For these stories and more, check out this week’s Israel-related technology headlines below.

Cleantech
1. Israel’s Solar Industry Aims to Regain its Edge

2. Israel, Egypt Considering Joint Solar Energy Project in Sinai

Investment and M&A
3. Google Wants To Buy Catch Media To Make Android Better

4. JVP’s Erel Margalit Tells Startups: “We Do Early Stage Now!”

Information Technology
5. Augmented Reality Gets a Major Face.com Lift

6. Tawkon enables mobile users to avoid mobile phone radiation without affecting phone usage

7. Comverse enables visual voicemail services on Sony Ericsson handsets for Norway’s NetCom

Miscellaneous
8. Unleavened Media: 10 Israeli mobile companies to watch in 2010

9. IPad Launch Has Halo Effect On Apple Products, Laptops

10. Aniboom and Sesame Street Partner on Animation Contest

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 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.

9. ‘Ajami’ on short list for Oscar nomination

10. Tuition-Free University Gains a Following

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

10. The First ELSE: A Mobile Phone from The Future (Videos)

11. The Tel Aviv Cluster

During the week of December 27, 2009, Israel’s airport security method was looked upon as a better solution to the current system used at airports in the States. Viewfinity announced that it had raised $8.6 million in funding and 5min was selected Best Startup at the TechAviv Peer Awards. For these stories and more, see this week’s 8 headlines below.

Cleantech
1. Shimon Tal: Facts and Personal Opinions on Water from Israel’s Former Water Commissioner

2. Sunshine year for cleantech

Investment
3. Viewfinity raises $8.6 million in Series B round of funding

4. Can Public-Funded Entrepreneurship Work? A Q&A With the Author of Boulevard of Broken Dreams

Information Technology
5. 5min Wins Top Spot in TechAviv’s Peer Awards

6. Web content under the microscope

Miscellaneous
7. What Israel can teach us about security

8. Israel set to become major golf destination