CTech's Monday Roundup of Israeli Tech News

Awkward silences are the current obsession of Salesforce's resident genius. Richard Socher, chief scientist at multinational software company Salesforce, thinks that speech and voice technologies are the future. Read more

Salesforce. Photo: Glassdoor

Medical aesthetic company InMode in talks for secondary offering. The Israel-based company listed on Nasdaq in August at a $450 million company valuation but has since reached a $1.3 billion market capitalization. Read more

Ridesharing company Via to open R&D center in Jerusalem. Via operates transportation services in 50 locations and more than a dozen countries, offering various modes of operation in different places. Read more

Better 11 years late than never: the Jerusalem express train now reaches Tel Aviv. On Saturday, the complete route of the Jerusalem express train officially opened to the public with a debut ride. Read more

Interview | Amazon hurts everyone in e-commerce, says Bringg CEO. Bringg develops Uber-like management software for delivery suppliers to help retailers overcome logistics in the era of same-day dispatching. Read more

The legal battle between IBM Israel and ICL escalates. In December 2018, ICL filed a lawsuit against IBM Israel, alleging a project it commissioned from the latter caused it $300 million in damages. IBM contested the claims. Read more

On Target | Femtech: what do women want? Venture capital! Femtech applies to more than half of the world’s population, but most venture capitalists still have limited imaginations when it comes to seeing how it can be profitable. Read more

Israel’s Shin Bet, Tel Aviv University announce third accelerator cohort. The new cohort will host six startups in fields including speech recognition, real-time video analysis, and cybersecurity. Read more

Digital legal analysis startup Litigate raises $3.5 million. Litigate develops technology that assists lawyers in analyzing legal documents and records, and in detecting legal precedents. Read more

Hotel chain Isrotel to set up hostel chain. The company’s first hostel will be established in Israel’s southern tourist town Eilat, offering 180 rooms ranging from dorms to family suites. Read more