AI21 Labs founders (right to left) Amnon Shashua, Ori Goshen and Yoav Shoham. (Photo Courtesy)
July was not a very big month for Israel Startup Nation in the area of fundraising. The biggest raise of July was just $64 million – a lot less than some of the earlier raises in 2022. This is, in part, because summertime is generally not big for startup investment rounds. But it is also a sign of the ongoing turmoil in the markets.
Amnon Shashua’s AI21 Labs $64 Million
AI21 Labs, an Israeli startup from Amnon Shashua that specializes in Natural Language Processing (NLP), raised another $64 million in a Series B funding round led by Ahren Innovation Capital Fund. With the raise, the company now has a valuation of $664 million.
Founded in 2017 by Yoav Shoham, Ori Goshen, and Amnon Shashua, AI21 Labs helps machines speak, or communicate, depending on how you look at it. This may not sound like such an original idea. Don’t computers and systems already communicate in one way or another? The answer is yes, but the level at which they communicate and process information keeps on changing.
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AI21 explains that in the past decade, neural networks fueled by unprecedented volumes of data and powerful computing led to a revolution in computer vision – the ability of machines to understand and generate images. The company says that language is harder for machines than vision and requires tectonic shifts in the way we build these machines.
Aurora Labs $63 Million
Aurora Labs, an Israeli startup that develops remote software management, remote diagnostics, and over-the-air (OTA) updates for the automotive and IoT industries, secured $63 million through a Series C financing round in July led by Moore Strategic Ventures (“MSV”). This round brings the total investment in Aurora Labs to approximately $100 million.
Founded in 2016 by CEO Zohar Fox and COO Ori Lederman, Aurora Labs boasts that it has reinvented software quality management, remote diagnostics, and over-the-air (OTA) updates for the automotive and IoT industries. Using machine learning algorithms to analyze risks and changes in the software functionality and behavior, Aurora Labs says that its Line-Of-Code Behavior technology improves the user experience and lowers the cost of software quality, safety and security.
Aurora Labs focuses on the embedded systems that are key to the development of the software-defined vehicle and enables automotive manufacturers to more efficiently manage software costs and the resources required to develop and manage new vehicle features and mobility services.
Fintech Startup Balance $56 Million
Balance, an Israeli business to business fintech startup founded by PayPal veterans, raised $56 Million in a Series B financing round led by Forerunner. Balance has now raised a total of $87 million in funding to date.
Founded in 2020 by PayPal alums CEO Bar Geron and VP of Development Yoni Shuster, Balance is a B2B payments experience company offering the first online checkout built for businesses. Balance states that its tech allows companies to process “any payment method, offer flexible terms, and get paid instantly — all in one place.” Out of the company’s 25 employees, 21 currently work in Israel. Geron and Shuster met one another while working for PayPal.
Balance boasts that it allows its customers a breathtaking buyer experience, net terms and payment method flexibility, and instant vendor payouts (fully reconciled), “all while getting full marketplace compliance and receivables management, hassle free.”
Forsight team (from website)
ForSight Robotics $55 Million
Israeli medtech startup ForSight Robotics is developing a surgical robotic platform to deliver what it describes as high precision and cost-effective vision-saving surgery. In July Forsight raised $55 million in a Series A round of funding led by The Adani Group alongside existing investors Eclipse Ventures and Mithril Capital.
Founded in 2020 CEO Daniel Glozman, Ph.D., Joseph Nathan, M.D. and Moshe Shoham, Ph.D, Forsight declares that its mission is to transform the practice of ophthalmic surgery through a next generation robotic platform combining “state of the art robotic microsurgical technology, advanced visualization technologies, and next generation cognitive computing methods.”
The company explains that many of the leading causes of blindness worldwide can be prevented through timely surgical procedures. Ophthalmic microsurgery is complex and challenging, requiring many years to master, and there is a shortage of trained ophthalmic surgeons to meet the demand worldwide. Creation of a robotic surgical platform will allow one to deliver consistent excellent results while scaling up ophthalmic surgery to solve the problem of preventable blindness worldwide.
Diagnostic Robotics $45 Million
Diagnostic Robotics, an Israeli medtech startup that uses artificial intelligence (AI) in its platform to help to predict how patients will respond to certain treatments, raised $45 million in a Series B funding round. This is yet another successful startup for Kira Radinsky, who told Calcalist that Diagnostic Robotics was valued at several hundred million dollars in the round.
Founded in 2017 by CEO Kira Radinsky, Yonatan Amir and Prof. Moshe Shoham, Diagnostic Robotics boasts that its powerful diagnostic system uses AI and predictive analytics models to solve a global challenge: strained health budgets and workforces. Diagnostic is collaborating with the largest hospitals in Israel and a growing number of payer and provider partners in the United States to “help make our vision for a better world into a reality.”
Dr. Kira Radinsky has also served as the chief scientist (IL) & director of data science at eBay. She was the co-founder & former CTO at SalesPredict which was acquired by eBay. Radinsky was also a member of Forbes 30 under 30 list – most promising business people in technology and is a visiting Professor of Computer Science at the Technion.
