CTech’s Daily Israeli Tech News Roundup

Pushed by activist investor, Mellanox to review development lineup. In November, Starboard Value bought a 10.7% stake at the Israeli communications chip company. After castigating Mellanox for its low margins, last week the activist investor sent a letter to investors saying it intends to push to replace in its entirety the chip designer’s board. On Thursday, Mellanox published quarterly financial reports beating analysts expectations in all key metrics and the company’s CEO said the company began a review of the company’s strategic priorities and development lineup. Read more

Mellanox offices in Israel. Photo: PR

After raising over $220 million, flash storage startup Kaminario shifts to software. Flash storage company Kaminario is exiting the hardware business, pivoting to a software-based business model. Founded in 2008, the company raised more than $220 million in equity investments to date, including a $75 million F Round from investors including Sequoia Capital and Israel-based Pitango Venture Capital. Read more

Dell to distribute the new Meta 2 augmented reality headset. The device offers an immersive augmented reality experience aimed at commercial customers looking to adopt AR technologies, particularly in the fields of healthcare, manufacturing, and construction. Read more

India’s TATA enters partnership with Israeli water generation company Water-Gen. TATA and Water-Gen will launch a joint water generation pilot in India. The companies signed an agreement during a state visit to India by Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. Read more

Investment firm Schroders to open Tel Aviv offices. Founded over two centuries ago, Schroders, one of Britain’s largest investment management firms, has over 4,000 employees in offices in 27 countries and circa $577.3 billion in assets. Read more

Tel Aviv Stock Exchange shareholders agree to sell stocks. Shareholders of the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange have agreed to sell 71.7% of their shares for an aggregated value of around $147 million (NIS 500 million). In early January, the exchange’s CEO Ittai Ben-Zeev sent a letter to the shareholders, offering to find a third party strategic partner for the stock. Last week, Reuters reported that Mr. Ben-Zeev said he aims to list the exchange on its own market in 2019. Read more