CTech's Wednesday Roundup of Israeli Tech News

Interview | Multinationals swooping in aren’t always a boon for Israel, says national innovation investment chief. Israel has long been hailed as one of the world's heavyweight tech hubs, with multinationals shopping for acquisitions big and small and opening local research and development outposts. Intel employs around 7,000 research and development employees in the country, Microsoft employs 1,200, and Apple around a 1,000. Google and IBM employ 800 and 600, respectively, and even Amazon has recently started leveraging Israeli talent, casting local employers into disarray with its market-breaking salaries. But Israel's innovation chief, former Apple Israel CEO Aharon Aharon, is not so sure the popularity of Israel among tech giants is a good thing. Read more

For GrubHub, new acquisition puts take away on the menu. On Tuesday, U.S. online food delivery company GrubHub announced it agreed to pay $150 million for college campus food ordering and take away company Tapingo. Read more 

Payment fraud prevention company Forter raises $50 million. Forter supplies businesses with a service that marks incoming payments as credible or likely fraudulent. Read more

China’s Venus Medtech to acquire Israeli medical device company Keystone Heart. Keystone Heart develops and manufactures devices designed to protect the brain during cardiovascular procedures. Read more

Russian private equity firm Da Vinci acquires 8% stake in ride-hailing company Gett. Da Vinci acquired shares from existing Gett shareholder Moscow-based venture capital firm InVenture Partners as well as new shares issued as part of Gett’s latest $80 million funding round. Read more

Cybersecurity company Kape reports pivot bolstered core revenues. Traded on the AIM sub-market, Kape pivoted to the cybersecurity domain and changed its name in May. Read more  

News Briefs

Augmented reality company Meta to put 75% of employees on hiatus. Read more

Website security startup Source Defense raises $10 million. Read more

Code management startup JFrog acquires software consulting company Trainologic. Read more

Marketing startup BrandTotal raises $6 million. Read more

New startup by serial entrepreneur Yosi Taguri emerges from stealth. Read more