Author: Techtime

Veloryx Builds Homeland Security Group Around Integrated Defense

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By Yohai Schwiger

Veloryx is preparing for the next stage in building its defense business. After acquiring control of drone manufacturer Aero-Sentinel, the company is negotiating the acquisition of an electronic warfare operation and is examining additional acquisitions in radar, ground robotics, and command-and-control systems.

Veloryx, formerly Aquarius Engines, aims to combine these capabilities into an integrated solution for protecting strategic facilities, infrastructure and other sensitive sites. The electronic warfare transaction is still at the non-binding memorandum-of-understanding stage, while the other potential acquisitions remain part of the company’s broader expansion plan.

Speaking with TechTime, Veloryx CEO Roy Bar-Gil said many countries are moving quickly to expand their defense capabilities but do not necessarily have the expertise to integrate systems from multiple suppliers.

“They need someone to orchestrate the whole thing for them, not just throw technology into the mix,” he said. According to Bar-Gil, customers need a contractor capable of designing a response to a specific threat, integrating the various systems and deploying them in the field. For Veloryx, acquiring companies is therefore only the first step. The real test will be whether it can deliver an integrated defense architecture rather than a collection of products from separate companies.

From Drones to an Integrated Defense System

The foundation of the new business is Aero-Sentinel, formerly Aerosol Aeronautical Solutions. Veloryx completed the acquisition of a 70% controlling stake in May. Aero-Sentinel designs and manufactures surveillance drones and provides flight, training and support services. It also develops and manufactures aerospace products made from composite materials.

Aero-Sentinel generated approximately NIS 15.1 million in revenue in 2025. Its manufacturing facility was damaged in April when a missile struck nearby, prompting the company to relocate its drone operations to a new leased facility. According to Veloryx’s half-year report, the new plant has resumed regular operations and is being prepared for serial production.

The next capability Veloryx wants to add is electronic warfare and jamming. A memorandum of understanding signed in June covers the acquisition of 70% of an Israeli operation that has been active in the field for approximately 12 years. The proposed transaction includes a payment of about $40.6 million to shareholders and an additional $12 million investment in the company, as well as performance-based consideration.

According to Veloryx, the business has completed more than 75 projects in approximately 40 countries. As of the approval of Veloryx’s half-year report in August, no binding agreement had been signed, and the transaction remained subject to conditions including due diligence and financing.

“We are trying to build a group that can provide an end-to-end homeland security solution,” Bar-Gil said.

The focus, he explained, is on protecting strategic assets and sensitive sites such as data centers, logistics hubs, infrastructure facilities and stadiums. “It could be a data center, it could be an Amazon facility holding high-value goods, or it could be Israel’s National Water Carrier,” he said.

Protecting entire national borders is not Veloryx’s primary target market, although the company sees opportunities to protect vulnerable or blind spots along them. According to its investor presentation, the planned solution would combine threat assessment, detection, jamming and response, command and control, and field installation and maintenance. At present, only some of these capabilities are owned by the group.

Bar-Gil was appointed CEO in December 2025 after more than 20 years at Israel Aerospace Industries. His most recent roles included CFO and Chief Business Officer of IAI’s Aviation Group, followed by Vice President of Business Development at the corporate level. That background fits the task now facing him: building a group by acquiring companies with complementary capabilities and integrating them into a broader offering.

The model of assembling groups of companies with complementary technologies has gained traction in the defense industry, partly because modern defense systems increasingly need to integrate capabilities operating in the air, on the ground and across the electromagnetic spectrum.

One example is U.S.-Israeli Ondas, which has used acquisitions to add companies specializing in drones, robotics and counter-drone technologies. Veloryx is pursuing a similar model, primarily in homeland security and the protection of facilities and infrastructure. But while Ondas has also acquired growth-stage companies, Veloryx says it is targeting more established businesses.

“We’re not buying startups,” Bar-Gil said. “We’re talking about existing companies with product families, sales, profitability and positive growth.”

After Aquarius: Veloryx’s New Test

The shift into defense represents a fundamental change in the company’s history. Aquarius Engines went public on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange in 2020 around its development of linear engines and power-generation systems, but failed to build significant sales around the technology.

After years of losses, downsizing and capital raises, Alexander Chernilovsky invested in the company and became its controlling shareholder. In December 2025, the board decided to refocus the company on defense and homeland security, and in January 2026 shareholders approved the name change to Veloryx. The company has signed an MOU to sell its legacy engine and generator operations, although that transaction has yet to be completed.

Veloryx’s ambitions are substantial relative to the scale of its current operations. In its investor presentation, the company set a revenue target of approximately NIS 326 million for 2029, based on the completion of additional acquisitions. It also anticipates needing approximately NIS 550 million in equity and debt financing to build the portfolio.

That defines the challenge facing Veloryx over the next several years: completing and financing its planned acquisitions, but more importantly, demonstrating that the acquired companies can operate together on a single customer project.

Bar-Gil believes that need is particularly evident in Europe, where countries are rebuilding capabilities in response to threats they have not had to confront for many years. One question remains open: who will design, integrate and deploy those defense systems for them? Veloryx is positioning itself as one of the companies seeking to provide that answer.

*Pictured: Veloryx CEO Roy Bar-Gil. Photo credit: Ilan Bashor. Image edited

Cognex to Acquire RealSense for $500 Million

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By Yohai Schwiger

U.S.-based Cognex has announced the acquisition of Israeli company RealSense, an Intel spinout specializing in depth cameras and computer vision for robotics, for approximately $500 million in cash. In addition to the purchase price, Cognex plans to allocate retention packages and equity awards to RealSense employees worth up to $106.5 million. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026.

RealSense is expected to generate $80-90 million in revenue this year, representing growth of more than 50% compared with 2025. The purchase price therefore implies a revenue multiple of approximately 5.6-6.25, or roughly 6 times revenue based on the midpoint of the forecast. Cognex said the acquisition is intended to expand its business beyond traditional industrial machine vision into robotic perception, particularly for autonomous mobile robots, quadrupeds and humanoid robots.

More Than $100 Million to Keep Employees on Board

One relatively unusual aspect of the transaction is the scale of the incentives being offered to RealSense employees. Cognex plans to establish a three-year cash retention program with a target value of $56.5 million, which will also be subject to performance metrics. In addition, it plans to grant employees approximately $50 million in Cognex restricted stock units (RSUs). The company has not disclosed the vesting period for the RSUs.

Combined, the employee packages could reach approximately $106.5 million, equivalent to about 21% of the acquisition price. This is a high proportion compared with typical M&A transactions. According to an M&A study by consulting firm WTW, nearly 70% of companies that establish a predefined employee retention pool allocate less than 2% of the purchase price to it, while only a minority allocate more than 5%.

The study also found that the median retention period has shortened to 13-18 months, compared with three years for the cash component of the RealSense program. However, retention packages tend to be larger in transactions where acquiring critical human capital is a central objective, particularly when AI and other specialized technology talent is involved.

The size of the package highlights the importance Cognex places on retaining the RealSense team. Much of the company’s expertise resides with engineers who have spent years specializing in areas such as depth vision, optics, image-processing chips, calibration and 3D perception algorithms. Retention programs are designed to give employees a financial incentive to remain with the company following an acquisition, a period when technology companies can be particularly vulnerable to the departure of key personnel.

From Intel to Physical AI

RealSense originated as an Intel business, with the brand officially launched in 2014. In July 2025, the business completed its spinout from Intel and became an independent company. At the same time, it raised $50 million in a Series A round backed by Intel Capital and the MediaTek Innovation Fund. The sale to Cognex therefore comes little more than a year after RealSense became independent.

The company develops depth cameras and related technologies that enable machines to build a three-dimensional representation of their surroundings. Its products are used in robotic arms, autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), quadrupeds and humanoid robots. Over the past year, RealSense has also expanded its focus beyond depth cameras toward perception platforms that combine sensing, processing and edge AI.

For Cognex, the acquisition represents an expansion of its core business. The U.S. company has operated in the machine-vision market for more than four decades and serves over 30,000 customers, primarily in factories, warehouses and production lines. Its systems enable machines to identify products, read barcodes, measure components and detect defects.

Over the past year, Cognex has deepened the integration of AI across its portfolio, launching systems such as the In-Sight 3900 and In-Sight 6900, as well as OneVision, a platform for managing and deploying vision AI models.

RealSense extends these capabilities from machines observing objects within controlled industrial environments to machines that move through the physical world and need to understand their surroundings in real time. Cognex estimates that the robotic perception market in which RealSense operates is currently worth approximately $600 million and will grow at an annual rate of more than 25% to reach $1.6 billion by 2030.

In this sense, Cognex is paying a relatively high multiple not only for an existing business that is growing rapidly, but also for a foothold in the emerging Physical AI market. If the shift from robots operating in predefined environments toward autonomous machines and humanoids accelerates in the coming years, the 3D perception layer in which RealSense specializes could become an increasingly important component of industrial automation systems.

Elsight Enters U.S. Army Procurement Channel

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[Above: Elsight’s Halo communications module]

Elsight, an Israeli developer of communications solutions for unmanned systems, announced that its Halo platform has officially been added to the U.S. Army’s UAS Marketplace. The platform serves as a procurement channel for U.S. Army units and programs seeking drones and complementary technologies for unmanned systems.

The Marketplace listing marks another step in Elsight’s progress within the U.S. defense ecosystem in recent months. In April 2026, Halo was added to the Blue UAS list after completing the vetting process required for components used in unmanned systems by U.S. defense agencies. In early September, the company also signed a Basic Ordering Agreement with the U.S. Army, establishing a contractual framework for future orders. The agreement itself does not constitute an order and carries no commitment regarding quantities or monetary value.

The Marketplace now adds a third component: a channel through which Army procurement officials can locate and purchase the technology through an established process. For Elsight, the three milestones effectively create a sequence of technology approval, contractual framework, and procurement channel, potentially making it easier to transition from field trials and evaluation programs to serial procurement.

Halo is not a drone itself, but a communications system designed to provide the connectivity layer for drones, robots, and other autonomous platforms. It aggregates multiple communications links, including LTE and 5G cellular networks, satellite communications, and RF channels, while managing data traffic across them. The system is designed to maintain continuous connectivity for command and control, telemetry, and video transmission even when some communications links become unavailable or are disrupted. The technology is intended, among other applications, for BVLOS operations, beyond the operator’s visual line of sight, and missions in challenging communications environments.

According to Elsight, Halo systems have accumulated more than 500,000 operational hours across more than 100 customers. At the same time, the company is expanding its manufacturing capabilities in the United States and Germany as it prepares to provide local supply for defense programs in both markets.

The U.S. developments come amid growing business momentum for Elsight. The company ended 2025 with an order backlog of approximately $22 million, after announcing a $21.2 million contract in December. Halo has also advanced to the third stage of a U.S. Defense Innovation Unit program, which includes field testing and could eventually lead to procurement.

Valens Appoints Semtech COO to Board

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Israeli chipmaker Valens Semiconductor has appointed Asaf Silberstein, Chief Operating Officer (COO) of U.S. semiconductor company Semtech, to its Board of Directors. The appointment became effective on September 10, and Silberstein will serve as a Class II director until the company’s 2029 annual meeting of shareholders.

Silberstein brings more than two decades of experience in the semiconductor industry, specializing in operations, supply chains and the transition of products from initial manufacturing to high-volume production. This background is particularly relevant to Valens as the company seeks to translate its technologies and design wins in the automotive and audio-video markets into larger-scale revenues.

Silberstein joined Semtech in 2010 and has held a series of senior positions overseeing the company’s global operations. In 2023, he was appointed COO, shortly after Semtech’s acquisition of Sierra Wireless, which significantly expanded the company’s operations. In this role, his responsibilities were broadened to include the company’s business units, sales, operations and information technology. Earlier in his career, he held management positions at Microsemi, PowerDsine, 3Com and ECI.

A particularly notable chapter in Silberstein’s career was his tenure at Israeli semiconductor company PowerDsine, a pioneer in Power over Ethernet technology. He joined the company in 2000, serving first as Vice President of Operations and later as COO during a period in which PowerDsine expanded its business, went public on Nasdaq and was eventually acquired by Microsemi in 2006 for approximately $246 million. Following the acquisition, Silberstein remained with Microsemi in a senior global operations role.

The PowerDsine connection is also significant in the context of Valens. The company’s board already includes Igal Rotem, a co-founder and former CEO of PowerDsine who led the company through its IPO and eventual sale. Valens is therefore bringing together two executives who were part of PowerDsine’s leadership during its growth phase: Rotem on the entrepreneurial and business side, and Silberstein on the operational side.

The appointment also reflects one of Valens’ key challenges at its current stage of development. The company has established connectivity technologies such as HDBaseT in the audio-video market and MIPI A-PHY in automotive applications. Its next challenge is to convert customer and partner design wins into meaningful high-volume production, a process that requires sophisticated supply-chain management, close coordination with semiconductor manufacturers and production partners, and the ability to rapidly scale volumes.

Valens CEO Yoram Salinger highlighted Silberstein’s experience in bringing differentiated semiconductor technologies to high-volume global markets. Silberstein, for his part, said he has been following Valens and its technology for many years. While there is no known significant prior business relationship between Silberstein and Valens, his renewed connection with Rotem and extensive experience at Semtech make the appointment particularly relevant to the company’s next stage of growth.

Electreon Unveils Wireless EV Charger That Requires No Excavation

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Electreon unveiled Lite DOT at IAA Transportation in Hanover, a new wireless charging system designed for electric passenger cars and light commercial vehicles. The new product marks a significant expansion beyond the company’s electric-road projects and charging infrastructure for commercial fleets, as Electreon seeks to turn wireless charging into a product that can be installed at homes, workplaces and commercial parking facilities.

Lite DOT delivers up to 11 kW of charging power, comparable to a three-phase residential AC charger. Instead of plugging in a cable, however, the driver simply parks the vehicle over a charging pad placed on the ground. Charging begins automatically once the vehicle is detected and authenticated. According to Electreon, power-transfer efficiency can reach up to 90% under specified conditions. The system also tolerates some parking misalignment, so the vehicle does not need to be positioned precisely over the center of the pad.

One of Lite DOT’s key features is its installation simplicity. Unlike Electreon’s existing DOT systems, in which charging coils are embedded beneath asphalt or concrete, Lite DOT sits above ground and requires no excavation. The system consists of a charging pad, a unit mounted on a wall or pole, and a three-phase electrical connection.

The pad itself contains no active electronics, and power transfer is activated only after an authorized receiver in the vehicle has been detected. The system is designed to operate in rain and snow and at temperatures ranging from -30°C to 50°C.

The Receiver Is Key

Using the system requires a wireless receiver to be installed underneath the vehicle. Electreon has developed a receiver architecture that can be adapted to different types of vehicles, giving the company two potential routes to market: integrating the receiver into new vehicles on the production line, or retrofitting it into existing vehicles. The receiver connects to the vehicle’s high-voltage system and CAN communications network, with the configuration adapted to each specific model.

This is where the network of partnerships Electreon has built in recent years could become particularly important. The company has worked with automakers including Toyota, Ford, Kia, Stellantis and Iveco, as well as Japanese automotive supplier Denso. Electreon currently cites more than 20 collaborations with vehicle manufacturers.

Its cooperation with Toyota and Denso is particularly relevant to the passenger-car market, as one of the partnership’s objectives is to develop receivers that can be integrated into both new and existing vehicles.

Electreon reported in July that it had completed development of the system, then referred to as “Charging while Parking,” and that it was in discussions with automakers and Tier-1 suppliers interested in manufacturing the receiver as well. Lite DOT is effectively the commercial product to emerge from that development. However, Electreon says the system is not yet commercially available and that its market launch date will be announced later.

Park, and the Car Charges Itself

Another potentially important market for Lite DOT is autonomous vehicles. While a human driver can connect a charging cable, a robotaxi, autonomous delivery vehicle or driverless logistics vehicle also needs a way to recharge without human intervention.

In this context, wireless charging becomes more than a convenience. An autonomous vehicle could drive to a parking space, position itself over the charger, recharge and then leave for its next mission without anyone having to plug it in.

Electreon is already applying this concept in industrial autonomous-vehicle projects, including its collaboration with ATLoS in Portugal. The company has also developed an inductive positioning system that allows an autonomous vehicle to align itself with the charging coils.

Lite DOT’s biggest challenge, however, may not be technological. For residential wireless charging to become a mass-market product, a sufficiently large installed base of vehicles must be equipped with compatible receivers. As long as the receiver remains a specialized and potentially costly addition, the value proposition for a private EV owner compared with a relatively simple and inexpensive conventional wallbox may not be compelling. Efficiency of up to 90% also implies greater energy losses than highly efficient wired charging.

The product’s success will therefore depend heavily on Electreon’s ability to turn the receiver from a specialized add-on into an integrated component of electric vehicles, working through automakers and Tier-1 suppliers.

If it succeeds, Lite DOT could mark the point at which technology originally developed for electrified roads evolves from a complex infrastructure project into an everyday charging product: arrive home, park the car, and charging simply begins.

XTEND, Quantum Systems Team Up for European NATO Customer

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Israeli robotics company XTEND and German defense technology firm Quantum Systems have announced a partnership to develop and deliver integrated solutions for autonomous missions in defense, homeland security and public safety. Under the agreement, XTEND’s robotic systems and autonomy capabilities will be integrated into Quantum Systems’ MOSAIC UXS software environment.

According to the companies, the integration will enable a broad range of unmanned systems to operate together across the full mission cycle, from intelligence gathering and target detection to the coordination of multiple drones and robotic platforms and, ultimately, mission execution or strike operations. The partnership is already supporting a joint autonomous systems program for a customer in a European NATO member state. The customer’s identity, the program’s scope and the systems involved were not disclosed.

The program may be related to the multi-year contract worth up to $15 million that XTEND announced in August with the defense ministry of a European NATO member state. That contract included approximately $4.5 million in orders during its first year. However, the companies have not explicitly linked the two announcements.

Founded in 2015 and headquartered in Munich, Quantum Systems has evolved from a drone manufacturer into a multi-domain autonomous systems company. It employs more than 1,700 people across eight countries and develops aircraft, ground robots, counter-drone systems, sensors, and command-and-control software. In July 2026, the company completed a $1.2 billion funding round at a valuation of approximately $8 billion, backed by investors including Airbus.

Its best-known platform is the Vector AI, a vertical takeoff and landing drone designed for medium-range intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions. The company also offers the Twister for short-range reconnaissance, the Reliant for long-range missions and the Trinity for mapping applications. At the same time, it is expanding into ground vehicles and drone interception systems.

Quantum Systems has a particularly strong presence in the European defense market. Its systems are supplied to Ukraine, partly with support from the German government, and the company has expanded its production capacity in Germany, Ukraine, Romania, the United Kingdom and the Baltic states.

In July, Quantum Systems also joined Project Conexus, a consortium that includes Oracle, Esri and Janes. The group is developing a common software environment designed to connect sensors, intelligence, decision-making systems and operational assets used by NATO militaries.

At the heart of Quantum Systems’ strategy is MOSAIC UXS, a mission management and command-and-control platform that connects drones, robots, sensors and effectors from different manufacturers within a single operational environment. The platform consolidates incoming sensor data, produces a shared operational picture and enables missions to be planned and coordinated across multiple domains.

XTEND’s XOS operating system will be integrated into this infrastructure. XOS enables drones and robots to operate in complex environments by combining autonomous capabilities with human supervision.

In practice, a Quantum Systems drone could detect a target from a distance and relay the information through MOSAIC. A platform controlled through XOS could then be deployed to approach the target, inspect it or carry out the mission. The companies also aim to simplify the user interface and allow new operators to achieve operational proficiency within days.

For XTEND, the partnership could help transform XOS from an operating system used primarily across its own product portfolio into an operational layer within the broader ecosystem of one of Europe’s leading defense drone companies.

AudiSea to Pilot Security System at Port of Hamburg

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Israeli startup AudiSea has been invited to conduct a paid pilot at the Port of Hamburg in Germany, focused on protecting critical infrastructure. The pilot emerged from the Port of Ashdod’s participation in the international All About Ports conference in Hamburg and will test AudiSea’s technology in an international operational environment.

The initiative is being led on the Hamburg side by Markus Horsing, whose work focuses on protecting the port’s critical infrastructure, including cybersecurity and information security. No further details have been disclosed regarding the pilot, including its financial scope, launch date, duration or the precise configuration in which the system will be tested.

AudiSea operates within the Port of Ashdod’s innovation program and is developing an underwater intelligence layer combining sensors, acoustic analysis and artificial intelligence. The system is designed to monitor activity below the waterline and along coastlines, providing intelligence and alerts to protect maritime facilities, ports and strategic infrastructure. Its capabilities also extend to remote inspection, predictive maintenance, digital twins and environmental monitoring.

The company’s technology analyzes acoustic data collected underwater to provide a continuous picture of activity in the marine environment. It is intended for defense, offshore energy and environmental applications, including the detection of anomalous activity, underwater noise and marine wildlife monitoring, infrastructure inspection and prediction of maintenance requirements. This combination of environmental and security applications makes the technology inherently dual-use.

The company began operating in 2025 and was incorporated in Israel in February 2026. It is led by co-founders Yair Yanovice, CEO and a former naval officer with seven years of service, and CTO Ori Roth.

The Port of Hamburg is Germany’s largest seaport, Europe’s third largest and the continent’s largest rail port. In 2025, it handled approximately 114.6 million metric tons of cargo, while container throughput reached 8.3 million TEUs. One TEU represents the capacity of a standard 20-foot shipping container. Its location on the Elbe River and extensive rail connections make Hamburg a major logistics gateway linking Asia, the Baltic Sea region and Central Europe.

The Port of Ashdod has been working to deepen its ties with the port’s management and with Hamburg Port Authority CEO Jens Meier, who also serves as president of the International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH).

[Pictured above: The Port of Ashdod. Photo: Daniel Almuzlino]