CTech's Weekly Roundup of Israeli Tech News

Israeli business sector rallies in support of LGBT protests. Last week, the Israeli parliament approved a new surrogacy law that fails to extend the right to use surrogate mothers to the country’s gay population. Apple, IBM, eBay Israel, and Teva all issued statements in support of the LGBT community. Microsoft, Facebook, and Israeli chip company Mellanox also declared $12,300-$23,500 grants for employees turning to surrogacy outside of Israel, regardless of sex, marital status, or sexual orientation. Read more 

Facebook buys Israeli messaging company Redkix. Redkix developed an email-integrated instant messaging app for businesses. The company is set to join the team of Facebook’s Workplace. Read more

Former Israeli chief scientist Avi Hasson to raise a $100 million Israeli fund in China. During his six-year tenure as the manager of the Israeli government innovation fund, Hasson made many efforts to advance and build Israeli-Chinese relations. Read more

NSO kills merger talks with surveillance company Verint. The stock and cash deal negotiated would have seen Verint pay a combined $1 billion dollar for NSO. Read more

Bosch leads $28 million round for AI-based recognition startup AnyVision. In June, Bosch acquired a 9% stake in the Tel Aviv-based startup, announcing a sales and technology partnership between the two companies. Read more

Metabolism hacking company Lumen scores big with diet planning device. Israel-based Lumen claims to offer a device that measures the gases exhaled in a single breath to supply users with a personalized diet and fitness plan. Read more

Israel’s online fraud industry targeted in rash of foreign enforcement actions. The latest is a motion requesting a court in Florida to impose a $75 million judgment against an online marketer who allegedly helped Israeli companies defraud victims. Read more 

$3.2 billion in investments poured into Israeli tech companies in H1 2018, report says. Israeli artificial intelligence companies raised $426 million in the second quarter of 2018. Cybersecurity companies scored a total of $394 million in investments. Read more 

PayU to acquire Israel-based payment startup Zooz. The companies have been working together for the past year and a half. Read more