CTech’s Daily Israeli Tech News Roundup

Trump’s statements on Jerusalem triggered cyberattacks on Israel, says former Israeli cybersecurity chief. Specific events, including the statement made by U.S. President Donald Trump in December, contributed to an overall increase in the number of attacks targeting Israel in 2017, Buki Carmeli, the former head of Israel’s National Cyber Security Authority, said. Read more

JVP to offer a $1 million investment to the winner of a startup contest to be held at Calcalist's Mind the Tech conference in New York. The competition is open to Israel-based startups looking to expand to New York and to New York-based startups interested in opening outposts in Israel. Calcalist's Mind the Tech conference will be held in New York on March 12-14 in partnership with Israel's Bank Leumi. Read more

Israeli shelf company turned crypto-mining company plans to list on Toronto Exchange. Quebec-based crypto-coins mining company Backbone Hosting attempted to list on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange through a merger with a Tel Aviv shelf company Natural Resources, but announcements made by the Israeli regulator made it clear it is unlikely it would be able to do so. Operating three cryptocurrency mining server farms in industrial facilities in Quebec, Backbone was registered in Canada in July. The company mined crypto-coins worth $7.3 million so far in January, according to CEO Roy Sebag. Read more

420 Israel-based cybersecurity startups raised over $800 million in 2017. Investments in Israeli cybersecurity startups were up 28% in 2017, according to a new report. the number of cybersecurity companies operating in Israel nearly tripled since 2011—from 148 to 420. Read more

Jerusalem startup incubator plans to invest in 100 startups. The incubator, operated by Jerusalem-based crowd equity firm Ourcrowd, Motorola and Reliance Industries, will focus on startups developing AI technologies and automotive tech. Read more

Tissue regeneration company CollPlant is coming to Nasdaq. Already listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, the Israel-based company is listing on Nasdaq as part of its September investment agreement with Lichtenstein-based Alpha Capital Anstalt. Read more

SAP, Comcast back Israeli data protection startup BigID. Tel Aviv-based BigID announced a $14 million Series A round on Monday. The company employs machine learning to track and protect organizational customer and employee data. Read more

Israel’s “Red Sky 2” anti drone defender system was used for the first time at Thai King’s funeral. A short-range anti drone defense system developed by Israeli arms manufacturer IMI Systems intercepted two drones flown in the vicinity of the royal funeral ceremony of former King of Thailand Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX) in October. Read more

Canadian homeland security fund AWZ invests $4.25 Million in cybersecurity startup Pcysys. Founded by former Israeli military cybersecurity experts, Pcysys develops a “virtual hacker” that detects system vulnerabilities. Read more