CTech's Thursday Roundup of Israeli Tech News

Analysis | China success jeopardizes Orbotech’s sale. Orbotech’s footprint in China is now proving to be a hurdle to the most important deal it can close—its own sale to U.S.-based semiconductor company KLA-Tencor Corporation. Read more

Tel Aviv-listed cannabis stocks reap benefits of Israeli export reform. Even speculative cannabis stocks have been gaining on the Tel Aviv Exchange since the Israeli parliament voted yes on Tuesday. Read more

Netflix gains popularity in Israel. 18% of Israelis used the video streaming service in 2018, up from 7% in 2017, according to a new report by Israel's telecommunication company Bezeq. Read more

Berlin-based Wind to launch e-scooter sharing service in Tel Aviv. Wind’s location-based app allows users to find, unlock and pay for the use of dockless electric scooters. Read more

Telco 2030 | Waze’s obvious, yet acute epiphany. The company’s peer-to-peer carpooling service, Waze Carpool, launched as a pilot in July 2015 in Israel. In October, Waze expanded the service to all 50 U.S. states. Read more

Irish government investment fund backs Israeli smart farming startup CropX. CropX uses soil sensors to optimize crop yields. It received $0.5 million to launch a yield optimization pilot in Ireland. Read more

Israeli university to deploy driverless shuttles on campus. Bar-Ilan University will run a nightly pilot of the service as of February. Read more

Orbotech buys out partner in a joint fab subsidiary. Israel-based Orbotech awaits Chinese regulatory approval for its acquisition by U.S.-based KLA-Tencor. Read more

Vonetize stock rises after announcing a planned investment from unnamed U.S. fund. Vonetize’s stock has been sliding as a deal to be acquired by U.S.-based Desilu Studios, announced in March, was delayed several times before being dropped following an intellectual property lawsuit filed against the studio by CBS. Read more

News Briefs

Teva reaches confidential patent settlement with Neos. Read more

Heart care 3D visualization startup CathWorks gets FDA approval. Read more

Facetune developer aims to double its workforce and expand to Android. Read more

Surveillance company Verint buys emergency response app developer NowForce. Read more