CTech’s Daily Israeli Tech News Roundup

A fixer for startups in the age of Trump. Political strategist and venture capitalist Bradley Tusk helped Israeli startup Lemonade, which just raised $120 million, deal with insurance regulators across the U.S. In a recent interview with Calcalist, he talked about his services-for-equity VC firm Tusk Ventures, the Trump administration, and cryptocurrencies. Read more 

Elbit announces $46 million NATO contract. The Israeli defense contractor will provide NATO with direct infrared countermeasures (DIRCM) protection systems for its Airbus A330 tankers. Read more

SEC: Mobileye founders’ insider trading testimony “not credible”. In March, Intel announced its $15.3 billion acquisition of Jerusalem-headquartered Mobileye, sending the automotive chipmaker's stock up 28% by that day's market close. Shortly after, the SEC opened two separate cases, one against two Israeli residents and one against two U.S. residents, claiming that the four made suspicious and unusually profitable trading in Mobileye securities prior to the announcement. The recently questioned co-founders denied passing any inside information. Read more

Technion, Shantou University inaugurate joint tech university in China. Located in the coastal Guangdong province in southeast China, the new research institute is the result of a cooperative agreement signed between both academic institutes in 2013. Read more

ViaVan launches ridesharing service in Berlin. The joint venture of Mercedes-Benz Vans and Via announced it will launch an on-demand shuttle service in the city with a fleet of up to 300 vehicles, in partnership with Berlin’s public transportation authority. Read more

Israeli shelf company trends up, trends down following crypto mining experiment. On Monday, a Tel Aviv-listed company announced it completed an experiment to harness solar power for crypto-mining. By market close, its stock went up 38%. The next day, it went down 32%. Read more 

 

Automated video company Wochit hires Storyful executive. Wochit’s new business development director Colm Curneen previously worked at The New York Times, The Financial Times and the International Herald Tribune. Read more