Startup Investing

8 Israeli Tech Trends, 8 Crazy Nights 2014: Autonomous Driving (7/8)

8 Israeli Tech Trends, 8 Crazy Nights 2014: Autonomous Driving (7/8)

Dec 23, 2014 | , ,

As Israel observes Hanukkah – a celebration of the light among the darkness – it’s time to highlight the tech trends creating sparks within the Startup Nation. Note, these trends are based on our deal flow – what our team sees on the ground. Trend 7/8: Autonomous Driving How a trend is born:  Cars are the single most complex consumer product in the world. While the combustion engine and large-scale, production-line manufacturing of the late 19th century helped make cars more ubiquitous, at large we have yet to see how the true power of the Digital Revolution, new fuel and propulsion technologies, innovative business models, new material technologies and advances in safety features will drive innovation forward and help bring about the car of the future. What’s causing the traffic jams of innovation? For one, road traffic accidents are the largest cause of injury-related deaths worldwide according to the World Health Organization. This is reason enough that advancement in the automotive industry can be excruciatingly slow. Think of it this way – the more electronics there are in a car, the easier the car...

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8 Israeli Tech Trends, 8 Crazy Nights 2014: Wearable Tech (6/8)

8 Israeli Tech Trends, 8 Crazy Nights 2014: Wearable Tech (6/8)

Dec 22, 2014 | , ,

As Israel observes Hanukkah – a celebration of the light among the darkness – it’s time to highlight the tech trends creating sparks within the Startup Nation. Note, these trends are based on our deal flow – what our team sees on the ground. Trend 6/8: Wearable Tech How a trend is born:  You are what you eat, goes the saying. A more modern adaptation would be: you are what you wear. From “smart” watches that sync to your phone, to contact lenses that measure diabetics glucose levels, wearable technology is rapidly spreading to all facets of technology. The wearable technology industry goes back to a device as simple as the once-trendy calculator watch of the ’80s. Today, however, the next wave of wearable technology will far outpace a simple Casio watch. Recent success and traction experienced in the wearable technology industry, such as Facebook’s acquisition of virtual reality headset maker Oculus VR and the 2012 launch of Google Glass, has entrepreneurs and investors alike excited for what should be “the next big thing.” Who’s who:  Israel has also played its part in the recent global innovation occurring in the wearable device market. Here...

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8 Israeli Tech Trends, 8 Crazy Nights 2014: Sharing Economy (5/8)

8 Israeli Tech Trends, 8 Crazy Nights 2014: Sharing Economy (5/8)

Dec 21, 2014 | , ,

As Israel observes Hanukkah – a celebration of the light among the darkness – it’s time to highlight the tech trends creating sparks within the Startup Nation. Note, these trends are based on our deal flow – what our team sees on the ground. Trend 5/8: Sharing Economy How a trend is born:  You exit the airplane, get into a taxi, pick up the keys to your lodging and open the door… to someone else’s home. Airbnb has dramatically changed the way people find accommodations when they’re planning vacations. It’s just one member of a major startup trend: The sharing economy. This model, build on the sharing of human and tangible resources, is also referred to as peer-to-peer, mesh and collaborative consumption. Anything that can be created, produced or consumed is part of this socio-economic economy built for easy and cheaper acquisition of goods and services. ‘Sharing economy’ as a term began in the mid-2000s. Consider eBay, Craigslist and Krrb – these are all marketplaces that are built on a collaborative consumption model. Today, within the startup culture in both Israel and beyond, there...

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8 Israeli Tech Trends, 8 Crazy Nights 2014: Medical Marijuana Tech (4/8)

8 Israeli Tech Trends, 8 Crazy Nights 2014: Medical Marijuana Tech (4/8)

Dec 20, 2014 | , ,

As Israel observes Hanukkah – a celebration of the light among the darkness – it’s time to highlight the tech trends creating sparks within the Startup Nation. Note, these trends are based on our deal flow – what our team sees on the ground. Trend 4/8: Medical Marijuana Tech How a trend is born:  Medical & recreational marijuana is lighting up the market – by some estimates, total sales of ‘Mary Jane’ may reach as high as $100 billion in the US alone in the next few years. The legal cannabis industry is poised to grow faster than smartphones according to the Huffington Post. And tokers can exhale a sigh of relief knowing that this rapid growth is due largely to new groundbreaking laws enacted in recent years that enable the production and sale of marijuana. Who’s who:  Israel can be thought of as the perfect breeding ground for medical marijuana companies, as it’s the place many people call the medical marijuana research capital of the world. The three main business categories within the cannabis industry are growers, grow services, and technology companies. Studies...

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8 Israeli Tech Trends, 8 Crazy Nights 2014: Crowdsourcing Finance (3/8)

8 Israeli Tech Trends, 8 Crazy Nights 2014: Crowdsourcing Finance (3/8)

Dec 19, 2014 | , ,

As Israel observes Hanukkah – a celebration of the light among the darkness – it’s time to highlight the tech trends creating sparks within the Startup Nation. Note, these trends are based on our deal flow – what our team sees on the ground. Trend 3/8: Crowdsourcing Finance How a trend is born:  Banks and startups: the two worlds could hardly be further apart. It’s obvious even on the surface: Banks are colossal institutions, conservative in nature, often centuries of history. Startups hire minimal staff and are innovative – and fledgling – businesses. So why are some of the world’s major financial institutions heading to Tel Aviv to set up start-up accelerators? The answer: Fintech (financial technology). In the most recent development of the Startup Nation, the Israeli fintech space has earned the attention of banking institutions both in Israel and abroad. While there have been some notable success stories (Fundtech, Nice Systems and now, Check), Israel isn’t particularly famous for its fintech startups. While Tel Aviv has become almost legendary for its innovation and entrepreneurship, it is less known for its financial institutions. Not anymore. According to a recent report,...

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