Month: January 2018

Mobileye Brought Israeli Tech Exits to $23 Billion in 2017

Intel CEO with Mobileye CEO
Posted on by Techtime

Photo above: Intel CEO (left) with Mobileye CEO

The Israeli high-tech exit activity soared to $23 billion in 112 deals during 2017, as a result of two mega-deals of more than $1 billion each, capturing 72 percent of the total amount. One was the biggest technology deal ever in Israel: Mobileye was acquired by Intel for $15.3 billion. The second was the sale of Neuroderm to Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma for $1.1 billion. Excluding these two mega-exits, the total amount reached $6.6 million, an increase of 19%, compared to 2016.

The number of exits dropped 8 percent in 2017 compared to 2016; Excluding buyouts and exits above $1 billion, a major decrease was seen during 2017 in the number of non VC-backed exits; 57 deals – the lowest in the past 5 years. The value of non VC-backed exits continued to decline for the fourth year, down to $2.22 billion in 2017. VC-backed exits stayed on course, with 44 exits in 2017 totaling $2.88 billion.

Israeli Exits 2017The IVC-Meitar study revealed a decrease of 18% in the number of small to mid-range deals (up to $100 million), and more than 60% increase in the the number of large size exits above $100 million each. “This report supports the notion that Israel’s strength is in innovation,” said Benzi Segev, IVC Research Center CEO. “The high valuations of the 13 Cyber M&A deals performed in 2017 prove that the Israel cyber supply innovation solutions to conservative industries.”

In 2017, 49 Israeli high-tech companies performed 68 M&As globally, similar to the past four years. However, the capital volume reached only $1.17 billion, compared to $3.46 billion in the M&As of 2016. This decline was caused by the absence of large deals in the software and Internet sectors, responsible for the majority of the M&A amounts in 2014-2016. The $200 million acquisition of Juno Lab by Gett was the largest deal among Israeli acquirers in 2017. Totally, the number of exits in communications dropped 29% and the number of Internet exits dropped 28%.

IVC analysis reveals that the number of mergers and acquisitions below $1 billion dropped by 19% compare to 2016. Ninety Israeli high-tech companies were acquired or merged for a total of $4.67 billion in 2017, compared to $5.08 billion in 111 deals in 2016.

For more information: www.ivc-online.com

SolidRun Support Google Cloud IoT

SolidRun's MACCHIATObin
Posted on by Techtime

SolidRun from Yokne’am, Israel, announced that it’s new embedded computer, MACCHIATObin™ ClearCloud 8K, gives support for the public beta of Google Cloud IoT Core, a fully managed service on Google Cloud Platform (GCP) to connect and manage IoT devices at large scale. Cloud IoT Core is now publicly available to all users in beta, including new features and pricing plan.

SolidRun’s MACCHIATObin™ ClearCloud 8K, is based on a Marvell ARMADA A8040 SoC, and features a quad core Arm Cortex A-72 1.6GHz processor. It also cincluds 4GB DDR DIMM4 memory (16GB optional), dual 10GbE, MicroSD connectors, 3 x SATA 3.0, USB 3.0 and a PCIex4 3.0 slot. MACCHIATObin™ ClearCloud 8K comes with a unique fanless GCP enclosure, and accessories for a price tag of $399.

It was specifically designed to work with Google’s Cloud IoT Core, to allow users to easily and securely connect to GCP. The solution has been developed in collaboration with Sartura Ltd., a specialized open source developer and integrator for embedded applications, in conjunction with Marvell. “It is only natural that a leading edge computing and gateway solution provider like SolidRun will complement its offering with an easy access to cloud services such as Google Cloud Platform,” said Dr. Atai Ziv, SolidRun’s CEO.

Cloud IoT Core was announced on September 2017 and is now operating on a Beta phase. This is a fully managed service that allows cotumers to easily and securely connect, manage, and ingest data from millions of globally dispersed devices. Cloud IoT Core, in combination with other services on Google Cloud IoT platform, provides a complete solution for collecting, processing, analyzing, and visualizing IoT data in real time.

Established in 2010, SolidRun is a global leading developer and manufacturer of System on Modules (SOMs), Single Board Computers (SBCs), Industrial PCs, edge devices and embedded systems. Its embedded solutions are based on ARM and x86 architecture and combine hardware, software packages, drivers and support for major operating systems. Among its clients: Beoing, Google, Ericsson, Dell, Sony and more.

Emza Announced Ultra-low Power IoT Visual Sensor

emza iot visual sensor
Posted on by Techtime

DSP Group and Emza Visual Sense from Israel, together with the Taiwanese fabless semiconductor provider Himax Technologies plan to launch the their  ultra-low power, always-on, intelligent visual sensor called WiseEye IoT, in CES 2018, January 9-12, in Las Vegas. The new device is based on DSP Group’s ULE and SmartVoice solutions, Emza’s machine vision algorithms, and Himax’s low power CMOS Image Sensor

When integrated into consumer appliances such as home assistants, TV sets, heating and cooling systems or security systems, WiseEye IoT enables battery-powered human awareness in the vicinity of the appliance in an extremely efficient and cost-efficient manners. The sensor is designed to avoid storage or transmission of images to protect customers’ privacy. When it comes to industrial applications, WiseEye provides intelligent occupancy detection and people counting in a battery powered sensor, it has applications in the factory floors and wherever motion detection is required.

Himax to acquire Emza

Emza Visual Sense from Kfar-Saba, Israel have developed sub-milliwatt, trainable, low-cost, autonomous, tiny computer-vision IoT sensors that are smaller than a coin and consume less than 1mW. It proprietary algorithms are embedded at the edge and are specially designed for extremely thin computing cores and a unique ultra-low power CMOS image sensor. The WiseEye IoT device consists of Emza’s SoC, Himax CMOS Image Sensor HM01B0, and two chips from DSPG: Communication chip to operate the ULE protocol (Ultra-Low Energy) which is a DECT based low power, low latency and long range communication standard. The second DSPG chip is an HDClear voice processor.

The cooperation between Himax and Emza is now on the path to become a merger. On April 13, Himax announced that it has made a strategic investment in cash in exchange for a 45.1% equity ownership of Emza Visual Sense. The agreement included an option to acquire the remaining 54.9% of Emza’s equity and all outstanding stock options. It means that the deal shoul be completed in the coming months. Jordan Wu, CEO of Himax, said the the agreement is a “strategic investment” in the effort to deliver “turn-key solutions for ‘always-on’ smart camera that enables devices capable of real-time.”

IAI to Build $1 Billion Aviation Group

IAI HAROP
Posted on by Techtime

Photo above: IAI’s new member in its Loitering Munitions (LM) family, the Maritime Harop.

Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) reorganize the company to achieve better profitability. Last week The board approved a plan offered by the CEO and President, Joseph Weiss, to to consolidate all of IAI’s aviation businesses and establish a single Aviation Group . The new Aviation Group will be comprised of the current BEDEK Aviation group, Commercial Aircraft group and the Engineering and Development group.

It will focus on four business lines: aircraft development and manufacturing; development and production of aviation assemblies; aircraft conversion and enhancement; and aircraft maintenance. The new group is expected to generate approximately $1 billion sales. Yossi Melamed, Executive Vice President & General Manager of Bedek Aviation Group will head the new group.

Israel Aerospace Industries is a big aerospace and defense complex with $4 billion annual sales, but it is struggles with very low margins. IAI’s sales in Q3 2017 amounted to USD 840 million compared with USD 893 million in Q3 2016, a decrease of about 5.9%. Net income in Q3 2017 amounted to USD 10 million (1.2% of sales). The Operating income in Q3 2017 totaled USD 20 million, approximately 2.4% of sales. Its major competitor in Israel, Elbit Systems, enjoy Operating income of 10.3% of total sales.

Harel Locker, IAI’s chairman, said, that the transformation is implemented at a time in which many countries bring home their manufacturing operations and are fighting aggressively for market shares. The decision was taken following record-breaking contracts entered by IAI over the past year, including several huge deals, significantly increasing its order backlog. The CEO Joseph Weiss, said: “Recent years saw the global civilian aviation market growing consistently at 5%-7% a year. IAI needs to make the necessary adaptations of its operations to benefit from this growth.”