CTech's Wednesday Roundup of Israeli Tech News

Nearly 25% of Israeli households live in perpetual overdraft, says report. A Monday report by Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics is just the latest in a series of findings that showcase how Israelis are floundering under the country's high cost of living. Read more

Industrial pollution in Israel continues to rise. While the waste generated by Israel's manufacturing and electricity industries is on the rise, per capita Israel is still under the European Union average, according to a new report. Read more

Israeli crypto company Saga launches digital coin. Saga's SGA coin will be issued based on an elastic, demand-based model that draws inspiration from the world's central banks. Read more

 

Online payment company Payoneer acquires German payment company Optile. Israel-based Payoneer provides online money transfer and digital payment services and operates according to the American standard. Read more

In a first, Israel’s social security agency to go into operational deficit in 2020. The agency’s expenses are expected to exceed its income by approximately $360 million next year. Read more

Israeli court rejects regulator bid for additional taxation of Broadcom's Dune Networks acquisition. Broadcom acquired Israeli startup Dune for $185 million in 2009. The Israeli tax authority demanded the semiconductor manufacturer hand over another $29 million for emptying Dune of its assets. Read more

Eropean Union innovation arm EIT launches Tel Aviv hub. The activities of the hub will complement existing EIT community activities in Israel that are expected to scale in 2020 through support to innovators from the health, climate, food, and urban mobility sectors. Read more

 

UC Berkeley’s accelerator on the lookout for Israeli startups. Berkeley SkyDeck has appointed Israeli venture capitalist and entrepreneur Itamar Novick as ambassador to help recruit Israeli startups for its program. Read more

 

Newly merged voice analysis startups Healthymize and Beyond Verbal raise $9 million. The new entity, Vocalis Health, will develop technology for the voice-based analysis and detection of health issues such as heart and respiratory conditions and depression. Read more

Cloud security startup rezilion emerges from stealth with $8 million. Rezilion develops a cloud workload protection service that integrates with existing DevOps and IT automation workflows and identifies unused vulnerable code in production, allowing DevOps teams to easily remove it. Read more