CTech's Thursday Roundup of Israeli Tech News

Japan's Sompo, AT Partners, NTT Finance launch joint $40 million fund to invest in Israel. The fund made its first limited partnership in Israel last month, according to Nobuyuki Akimoto, co-founder and managing director at AT Partners. Read more

Via to manage New York’s school bus system. The largest school district in the U.S., the NYC Department of Education transports around 150,000 students on 9,000 bus routes every day.Read more Israel to exempt South Korean cars, baths, soy sauce from customs duty. Israel and South Korea have completed their negotiations on a free trade agreement that would exempt imports and exports of certain types of products from tariff. Read more

Local market politics make Israeli retailers hesitant to join Amazon, experts say. On Wednesday, Amazon notified Israeli retailers on its platform that the “ships locally” filter will soon be available for Israel, enabling consumers with an Israeli IP to look for products with local service and a fast shipping offer in-country. Read more

Musician social networking startup MyPart joins Abbey Road Incubator. MyPart enables artists to offer their original songs, lyrics, music, translations, and visual art to musicians of their choice. Read more

Medical data startup MDClone raises $26 million. MDClone develops a system for ensuring patient confidentiality during the analysis of medical data. Read more

Smart farming startup CropX raises $10 million. The company also announced it appointed John Vikupitz, former CEO of drip-irrigation company Netafim’s U.S. outpost, as president. Read more

Bosch backs Tel Aviv construction site analytics startup Versatile Natures. Versatile Natures develops an internet-of-things (IoT) system that provides an overview of construction sites and offers actionable insights to increase efficiency and avoid wasteful or non-optimal use of resources and tools. Read more

Cybersecurity company Checkmarx wins U.S. navy contract. Per the contract, the financial terms of which the company did not reveal, Checkmarx will help the Navy improve its software security and accelerate the development of secure software applications. Read more

Israel's former chief economist joins online payment company Payoneer. Yoel Naveh served as the chief economist of the Ministry of Finance until 2018. Read more