CTech’s Wednesday Roundup of Israeli Tech News

CVC in talks to buy medical laser company Lumenis. Private equity firm CVC Capital Partners is in advanced negotiations for the acquisition of Israel-based medical and aesthetic laser company Lumenis Ltd., offering $800 million to $900 million. In January, Bloomberg reported XIO is looking to sell the company. The same month, The Wall Street Journal reported Lumenis is at the heart of a lawsuit between XIO and Chinese billionaire Zhikun Xie. Read more

 

Alibaba’s Jack Ma says China offers "real opportunity" to Israeli technology. Mr. Ma arrived on his first visit to Israel Monday. On Tuesday he met with Jerusalem-based venture capital fund JVP. Read more

 

American food corporation Tyson backs Israeli lab meat startup. Jerusalem-based Future Meat Technologies aims to reduce the costs of producing meat in laboratories to $5 per kilogram. Read more

 

Ad-Blocking Startup Namogoo Raises $15 Million. Namogoo provides online businesses with a service that blocks unauthorized ads and distracting content from appearing on their websites. Read more

 

Returning NDS chairman points to new areas of focus. Digital piracy, targeted marketing and management of streaming services will be the new areas of focus for NDS Group as it rebrands under old ownership, according to returning chairman Abe Peled. On Tuesday, Cisco announced it will sell NDS back to former stakeholder Permira Holdings. Read more

 

Regulus Cyber, which protects autonomous cars and drones, raises $6.3 million. The Israel-based startup develops hardware and software to protect sensors and communications systems. Read more

Stratasys reports disappointing revenue figures. The 3D printer maker attributed weak earnings to underperformance in North America. Read more

 

Israeli-born CEO ousted from Silicon Valley startup. An investigation into HealthTap’s CEO and founder Ron Gutman turned up a pattern of threatening behavior. Read more

 

Microsoft announces winners of AI startup competition. Winning companies will receive a combined total of $3.5 million in venture funding. Among the four winners are two Israeli startups: city management company Zencity and speech recognition company Voiceiit. Read more