August was a relatively quiet month for the Start-Up Nation this year, if you can call $1 billion in investments quiet. Israeli tech companies have now raised more than $15b. in the first eight months of the year, far surpassing the previous record $10.6b. raised for the full year 2020.
Let’s start with acquisition news.
Gaming company PLAYTIKA acquired Reworks Oy, a Finnish app company, for $600 million. Reworks’ hit design entertainment app, Redecor, has grown to become the #2 Design Entertainment app based on in-app purchase revenue since its launch 18 months ago. Home Decor comprises 12% of all U.S. e-commerce sales, is one of the most popular categories on Pinterest, and returns more than 100 million Home Decor-related Instagram posts, Playtika said. Home Decor appeals to a similar demographic to that of Playtika’s existing 36 million monthly active users, and Playtika will leverage its expertise to further grow Redecor into a leading destination for design enthusiasts for years to come, it said.
Earlier this week, DSP GROUP, a provider of voice and wireless chipset solutions for converged communications, was acquired by US software company Synaptics for some $540m. in cash, or $22 per share. That price was about 20% more than DSP’s share price before the announcement. The acquisition should generate annual run-rate synergies of $30m. within the year, Synaptics said. DSP Group was founded in 1987, and has offices in Herzliya and around the world.
CHECK POINT SOFTWARE acquired Tel Aviv-based cloud email security company AVANAN for an estimated $300m. That would make it Check Point’s largest acquisition in more than a decade. Avanan will integrate into the Check Point Infinity consolidated architecture to deliver the world’s most secure email security offering, the company said. Avanan, founded in 2015, is the world’s fastest-growing cloud-email security vendor, with more than 5,000 customers, Check Point said.
Cloud data protection platform OWNBACKUP acquired RevCult, a California-based software company that provides Salesforce security and governance solutions. The deal’s value was not disclosed. The acquisition follows OwnBackup’s recent purchases of Nimmetry, a SaaS data management company, as well as Merlinx, a top cybersecurity firm based in Tel Aviv. OwnBackup also announced a $240m. Series E round at a $3.35b. valuation last month.
DUDA, which offers a platform for building websites for digital agencies and SaaS platforms, acquired Canadian e-commerce company Snipcart for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition comes after Duda recently raised $50m, bringing its total funding to $100m. Snipcart’s solution allows businesses to add a shopping cart to any website, and will help Duda accelerate its growth in the e-commerce space, where Duda has already experienced 265% year-on-year growth.
Hewlett Packard Enterprises said it completed its $374m. acquisition of Herzliya-based cloud data management and protection company ZERTO. The deal, first announced in July, immediately positions the HPE GreenLake edge-to-cloud platform in the high-growth data protection market with a proven solution, the company said. Zerto has approximately 500 employees serve more than 9,000 customers, including enterprises and 350+ managed service providers.
Moving to the investment sphere, agTech startup FIELDIN completed a $30m. Series B funding round, led by Fortissimo Capital, bringing the company’s total fundraising to $55m. Fieldin’s agricultural operating system empowers commercial farmers to adapt to a rapidly changing environment, using machine learning and AI to provide custom recommendations for the management of work processes, supporting crop health and yields, improving sustainability, and boosting overall efficiency and profits. The company’s technology is already deployed on five of the 10 largest farms in California and supports more than 20% of global almond production. Fieldin was founded in 2013, and has an R&D center in Yoqneam, and operations in operations in San Jose and Fresno, California and in Australia.
FORETELLIX, which makes a platform for testing, verification and validation for automated driving systems (ADAS and AV), secured $32m. in its latest Series B funding round led by MoreTech Ventures, bringing its total raised capital to over $50m. Foretellix was founded in 2018 and is based in Ramat Gan.
PAYEM announced $27m. in seed and Series A funding. The company’s platform helps companies move spending decisions from finance departments to company teams within an organization, giving them the ability to manage non-payroll spend as needed while safeguarding budget and automating manual accounting tasks. The company quadrupled its portfolio in the second quarter of 2021, generating millions of dollars in revenue, it said. PayEm was founded in 2019 and is headquartered in Tel Aviv.
Modi’in-based JIFITI received $22.5m. from Ingka Investments, the investment arm of global flat-pack furniture giant Ikea, for its “buy now pay latee” fin-tech solution for banks.
WALNUT, whose platform allows sales teams to create product demos with no coding, raised $15 million in Series A funding in a round led by Eight Roads Ventures. The company has now raised a total of $21m., and has more than 60 clients.
ANIMA announced a $10m. Series A funding round led by MizMaa Ventures. After running bootstrapped until last year, the Y-Combinator backed startup is onboarding 30,000 designers and developers per month, it said. The company’s design-to-code platform helps make peace between designers and developers, the company said. The funding will allow it to triple the size of its team, as they continue to build out the platform which already has half a million users, including designers from Google, Netflix, Disney, Facebook and Amazon. Anima was founded in 2017 by a husband and wife, developer-designer duo. The company now has employees in Tel Aviv, New York, Boston, Lisbon, Barcelona and Casablanca.
SILIB raised $3m. for technology developed at Tel Aviv University that claims to increase the battery capacity of electric vehicles by as much as 40%. Increasing EV’s driving range would address one of the growing sector’s biggest barriers to entry. Silib has built a commercial product based on the technology and passed the feasibility stage, the company said.