CTech’s Thursday Roundup of Israeli Tech News

Playtech pays $1.05 billion for majority stake in Italian betting company Snaitech. London-listed Playtech, the world's largest provider of online gambling services, has bought a 70.6% stake in Snaitech. Playtech said the deal would enhance its revenue mix towards regulated markets. Read more

Peter Thiel’s Mithril Capital, Slack back Israeli AI startup Epistema. Mithril Capital and Slack are participating in a funding round for Epistema, a startup developing a structured debate platform supported by automated data checks and artificial intelligence. “We are an AI company trying to use this technology not to replace people but to accelerate their thought process,” co-founder and CEO Joab Rosenberg told Calcalist in an interview last year. Read more

Sequoia Israel partner launches new $50 million cybersecurity fund. Gili Raanan, a serial entrepreneur and general partner at Sequoia Capital's Israeli branch, has launched a new fund focused on cybersecurity that will invest in early stage companies. Called Cyberstarts, the fund has raised from Sequoia Capital, and from several prominent cybersecurity entrepreneurs. Read more

Salesforce, Innovation Endeavors invest in cloud backup startup OwnBackup. New Jersey-headquartered OwnBackup develops a cloud-to-cloud automated backup and recovery system. The latest funding round brings the company’s total equity funding to $37.5 million. Read more

Deutsche Telekom invests in IoT startup Axonize. Tel Aviv-based Axonize develops customizable IoT monitoring systems, for telecommunication companies. It counts Intel, Dell EMC, Microsoft and Bezeq, Israel's largest telecommunication company, among its customers. Read more

Travel booking startup TravelPerk raises $21 million. The Barcelona-based company maintains a business travel booking and management platform which is integrated to that of other travel booking sites including Booking.com, Expedia, Skyscanner, and Airbnb. It was co-founded by Israeli Avi Meir, whose company Hotel Ninjas sold to Booking.com in 2014. Read more

Acquisition report catapults Frutarom stock. On Wednesday, Calcalist reported that Israel-based flavor and fragrance company Frutarom Industries has been approached by several interested parties, among them U.S.-based International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF), regarding a possible acquisition deal. The report led to a 7% increase in Frutarom's stock price on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange by Wednesday's market close, and a daily trading volume of NIS 169 million (around $48 million), 3.4 times the daily average in the past three months. Read more

Security contractor Magal appoints new CEO. Dror Sharon is set to replace Saar Koursh, who was appointed CEO in 2015. Magal develops and markets security and site management products as well as cybersecurity systems for use in airports, seaports, borders, military bases, and government facilities in over 80 countries. Among Magal’s catalog of products are smart fences and sensor-fitted walls, and the company has been involved in the building of Israel’s security walls in the West Bank and on the Gaza border. Read more