CTech's Monday Roundup of Israeli Tech News

Nvidia to acquire Mellanox for $6.9 billion. On Sunday Calcalist reported Nvidia has joined the bidding race for Mellanox. Read more

Crypto mining outfit Bitfarms to depreciate $19 million as founder denounces bitcoin. Founder and former CEO Roy Sebag twitted on Wednesday that he has sold all of his bitcoin assets barring his 22.5% Bitfarms stake. Read more

Mobike’s international pullout currently not affecting Israel, says local operator. On Friday, Techcrunch reported that the Chinese bike-sharing company has laid off its operations teams in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, India, and Australia. Read more

Israel’s kibbutzim are setting up an electric car-sharing service. An agricultural cooperative society owned by Israeli kibbutzim has recently acquired dozens of electric cars to be used as shared vehicles in the rural communities. Read more

Cannabis company InterCure sells part of Regenera Pharma stake. InterCure will sell 1.35% of Regenera for a profit of almost $1 million, leaving it with a 12.27% stake. Read more

Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary partners with insurance startup Planck. Tel Aviv-based Planck develops software that helps insurance companies analyze and perform risk assessments of businesses. Read more 

Technion, Arab women’s organization to launch a ride-sharing app. Much of Israel’s Arab population lives outside the country’s metropolitan centers, where most local tech firms have set up offices, possibly contributing to the relatively low number of Arab employees in the Israeli tech scene. Read more 

Israel considering fixed prices for food and services in airports, hospitals. Looking into ways to reduce prices of food and services in public establishments, Israel’s Ministry of Economy is also considering making “reasonable pricing” a pre-condition for winning relevant tenders. Read more 

AI companies accounted for 37% of investment in Israeli tech companies in 2018. By the end of 2018, 1,150 Israeli startups were developing or making use of artificial intelligence technologies, according to a report released Monday by nonprofit Start-Up Nation Central. Read more