CTech’s Weekly Roundup of Israeli Tech News

In Israeli tech, women are worth half as much as men. Women entrepreneurs raise half as much money as their male peers, according to a new report. Women account for just 7% of the founders or co-founders of startups in Israel. Read more

Israel set to approve export of cannabis. The approval of medical cannabis export was included in an overall cannabis reform approved by the Israeli government in 2016, but was later halted due to a ministerial dispute. A major hurdle for the approval of cannabis exports had been the opposition of the Israeli Minister of Public Security Gilad Erdan, who has now consented to a revised plan, due to be submitted to government approval in the coming days. Israel's Ministry of Finance estimates the Israeli cannabis export industry could be worth $1.1 billion annually. Read more

 

Nike acquires Israeli computer vision startup Invertex. Invertex’s technology allows customers to scan their bodies and get size recommendations for shoes and clothes. Read more

Futuristic pod-to-meal startup raises $10 million. Israeli food tech startup Genie develops “ovens” it says can cook restaurant-grade meals in 2-3 minutes from pods containing freeze-dried foodstuff. Read more

Palo Alto Networks to acquire cybersecurity startup Secdo. Palo Alto Networks bought Israel-based Secdo for $100 million, according to a person familiar with the deal. Read more 

WeWork scuttles plans to raise funds in Israel. The onerous financial review required by Israeli authorities and investors led the coworking space provider to give up on the country’s capital markets, according to people familiar with the matter. 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  

ZTE partners with content distribution company Taboola to deliver its own news feed. ZTE will offer Taboola-powered personalized content news aggregator on its devices, in a service similar to that of Apple News, Blinkfeed, and Flipboard. Read more

Porsche buys minority stake in mobility analytics startup Anagog. The Tel Aviv-based startup develops technology that tracks and predicts user behavior data from sensors embedded in mobile phones. Porsche said the deal will help the company expand its expertise in digital technology. Read more

Medtronic acquires medical visualization company Visionsense for $65 million.The medical device developer intends to integrate Israel-based Visionsense's operations into its own activities. Read more

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

Teva and Rimsa settle lawsuit over $2.3-billion plant. Teva acquired the Mexican plant in 2016 but shut it down immediately, citing discrepancies between Rimsa's regulatory filing and the actual assets, and filed a suit against the former owners. Read more