These Are the 12 Finalists of Calcalist’s AI and Big Data Startup Competition

Twelve Israeli startups advanced to the final round of Calcalist’s and Microsoft’s second annual artificial intelligence and big data startup competition. The winning startups will be announced Tuesday at Calcalist’s “Mind the Data 2018” conference in Tel Aviv.

For daily updates, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here. 

Microsoft will host representatives of the winning startup at the company’s Seattle headquarters, where they will receive an opportunity to network with Microsoft executives and other local tech companies through a program of roundtable meetings.

First and second place winners will be invited by Calcalist to participate in the newspaper’s Berlin conference next year, where they will meet with potential partners and investors. The invitation includes airfare and hotel costs. The second place winning will also receive 20 hours of financial advising by KPMG Israel, as well as 20 hours of business advising and mentorship from Israeli enterprise software company Kryon Systems Ltd.

The competition is being judged by Microsoft Israel General Manager Shelly Landsman; Eyal Niv, a managing general partner at venture capital firm Pitango; Vertex General Partner Emanuel Timor; Sivan Shamri Dahan, co-founder and partner of Israeli late-stage venture firm Qumra Capital; Daniel Shinar, CEO of Tel Aviv-based venture investments firm ClalTech; Yodfat Harel Buchris, managing director at Blumberg Capital Israel; Moran Ben Gigi, head of data and analytics at KPMG Israel; and Eyal Barzilai, head of big data at Israel's Leumi Bank.

These are the 12 finalists.

Abilisense

Founded by Katerina Rotenberg and Erez Lugashi

Founded in 2015 in Tel Aviv, Abilisense Ltd. develops an artificial intelligence-based sound identification technology that is installed into IoT listening devices, allowing them to translate certain sounds into alerts and alarms. The company's smart hearing technology can be installed into most devices containing a microphone and signal in the case of real-time emergencies, such as a baby left in a vehicle or a distress call from an elderly or sick person. The company’s technology is also designed to assist people with hearing impairment, analyzing sounds in their environment and translating them into critical information.

BrainQ

Founded by Esther Shohami, Yaron Segal, and Yotam Drechsler

Jerusalem-based medical startup BrainQ Technologies Ltd. aims to help patients with paralysis move their limbs without requiring surgery. The company develops a headset that scans a patient’s electric activity, and uses electromagnetic fields to simulate the way the central nervous system works and promote the natural recovery of the brain. Each treatment session takes 30-40 minutes, and the number of sessions needed depends on the severity of the injury. BrainQ has completed an $8.8 million investment round in May.

CropX

Founded by Isaac Bentwich

Agriculture technology startup CropX Inc. set out to improve crop yields using networks of smart soil sensors that transmit data to cloud-based analytics software. The company's software analyzes data such as temperature, soil moisture, and conductivity, and integrates with irrigation systems to help farmers reduce water, fertilization, and energy costs while increasing yield.

Equalum

Founded by Nir Livneh

Equalum Ltd. develops a data beaming platform designed to teleport operational data in real-time throughout different systems and applications within an organization. The platform absorbs data from multiple sources as it is created, processing and streaming it to any number of applications faster than conventional ETL.  

Glassbox

Founded by Yoav Schreiber, Yaron Gueta, and Hanan Blumstein

Customer analytics startup Glassbox Digital UK Ltd. offers a platform that collects data and provides analytics and insights pertaining to customer behavior across digital platforms and mobile applications. Glassbox’s platform is designed to optimize web and mobile customer experiences, identify IT performance issues, and direct real-time customer support.

Gong.io

Founded by Amit Bendov and Eilon Reshef

Conversation analytics startup Gong.io Ltd.’s online service gives sales representatives insights into their interactions with customers by analyzing recorded phone calls and tracking keywords and topics of conversation.

Infime

Founded by Inbar Carmel and Michael Litvin

Infime Ltd. operates an online lingerie-selling platform that allows shoppers to virtually “try on” items through data-based body simulation.

Leaperr AI

Founded by Gil Admoni, Yiftach Richter, Gil Raz, and Yoni Klein

Leaperr developed an interior design software that can quickly generate custom-made, realistic interiors using AI, deep learning, and image processing algorithms.

NoTraffic

Founded by Or Sela, Uriel Katz, and Tal Kreisler

Smart mobility startup NoTraffic Ltd. develops a system for real-time traffic management in urban environments, which is based on a network of plug and play sensors and real-time vehicle-to-infrastructure communication. According to NoTraffic, the company’s artificial intelligence algorithms are capable of identifying and correctly predicting a vehicle’s arrival time at a traffic light and optimizing traffic light timing to improve flow. Founded in 2016 and based in Tel Aviv, NoTraffic already operates several pilot programs in California.

OncoHost

Yuval Shaked and Dror Yeger

Founded in 2017, OncoHost Ltd. develops personalized treatment strategies for cancer patients, aiming to reduce cases of resistance to therapy. The company uses proprietary proteomic analysis to try and understand each patient’s unique physical response to therapy.

Panoply

Founded by Yaniv Leven and Roi Avinoam

Panoply Ltd. develops an end to data management service that sits on top of Amazon’s Redshift data warehouse service. Panoply’s data warehousing platform automates manual data-storage processes such as scaling and storage optimization.

Stellares

Founded by Roi Chobadi and Andrew Katz

The talent acquisition startup, listed as Stellar A.I. Inc., develops an artificial intelligence-based algorithm that operates as a recruitment platform matching the personal and professional goals of individuals with potential employers. The company’s algorithm scans and analyzes the digital footprint of both employers and employment seekers, and matches them based on various commonalities including hobbies, relevant commute time, and policies such as bringing pets to the workplace.