What a difference eight years – or even a few weeks – can make.
At Headline Media, we’ve grown a lot since our founding – but we’ve had a lot more to celebrate these past few weeks.
Since September, we’ve welcomed a record four (!) new babies to the Headline family. Mazel tov to Gavriella Kaplan-Weinreb; Orit Yogev, who welcomed twins; and Justine Rosin. These star Headliners are now star parents – and we couldn’t be more thrilled.
The past few weeks have also marked some big milestones for the Israeli tech world – and for our stellar clients.
Since Headline Media launched eight years ago, the Start-Up Nation has gradually transformed into the Scale-Up Nation. Scrappy up-starts have grown into industry leaders or have even become unicorns, and there’s no doubt that the future holds plenty more in store. But as the high-tech ecosystem matures, more and more companies are focused not on securing a blockbuster acquisition, but on putting down roots here in Israel and building for growth.
At Headline, we’ve had the privilege of representing many of the companies leading this transformation – and while we’ve been working in the ecosystem for the better part of a decade now, sometimes all it takes is a month like last one to drive home just how much has changed.
In October alone, Israeli tech startups raised over $800 million, pushing the total raised in 2019 to a record $6.94 billion—surpassing 2018’s previous annual record of $6.14 billion, according to data compiled by the IVC Research Center – and the year ain’t over yet. Well over half of October’s haul – $442.5 million – was raised by seven of our incredible clients.
Spanning the high-tech gamut from innovative InsurTech to next generation robotics and last-mile fulfillment to game-changing Privacy Enhancing Technologies and beyond, these companies attest to the vibrancy and variety of Israel’s innovation ecosystem – and it’s companies like these who embody the best of both the Start-Up Nation and the Scale-Up Nation.
Here’s a look at some of the companies that powered Israeli tech’s record-breaking month.
Next Insurance
Leading the October 2019 pack was pioneering digital insurance provider Next Insurance. Next Insurance’s $250 million series C round, backed by Germany’s Munich Re reinsurer, brought its total funding to $381 million and buoyed Next’s valuation into unicorn territory. The company provides tailored, affordable insurance policies to small businesses, with more than 1,000 classes of business covered.
Fabric
Bringing in a $110 million series B funding round this October was Fabric (formerly known as CommonSense Robotics). Founded in 2015 in Tel Aviv, the company provides the infrastructure for micro-fulfillment centers to help transform last-mile logistics so that on-demand fulfillment can become profitable and scalable for every business.
Namogoo
Ecommerce innovator Namogoo raised $40 million in a series C funding round, bringing its total funding to $69 million to date. Focusing on combatting digital chaos, the company’s technology enables online retailers to fight online journey hijacking – in which unauthorized ads are injected into customer browsers, diverting them from retailers’ sites and robbing retailers of 2-5% of annual revenue – and protecting user privacy for online enterprises.
Duality Technologies
Duality Technologies’ $16 million series A round, led by Intel Capital, is generating excitement in the cryptography and data privacy worlds in large part due to the sheer brainpower behind the company. Co-founded by a team of world-leading cryptography and data science experts, many of whom helped develop the very areas of cryptography on which their product is based, Duality is poised to revolutionize a number of industries with its Privacy Enhancing Technology based on homomorphic encryption.
Become
Become (formerly known as Lending Express) raised $10 million in series A funding and $2.5 million in venture debt. With small businesses still squeezed for capital a decade after the financial crisis, Become expands access to funding through an intelligent platform that matches applicants to funding opportunities with determined custom terms tailored to their needs.
Tactile Mobility
Tactile Mobility’s recent $9 million in funding from Porsche, Union Tech Ventures, and other investors will help propel its tactile virtual sensing technology for automobiles into full scale production. The company’s unique technology leverages non-visual sensor data to enhance automobile safety by allowing autonomous and connected cars to “feel” the environments around them.
Workiz
Workiz, the field service management and communication platform, raised $5 million in series A funding and released its industry-first voice-based feature powered by Amazon Alexa. Workiz provides field service professionals with affordable enterprise grade technology to propel their businesses forward.
What a month.
The Israeli tech ecosystem is growing and building an exciting future, and so is the Headline family.