High Tech On The Low

It may surprise you to hear but surgery results vary between patients, hospitals, and departments in the same hospital, even for the same procedure. That is because there is no standard operating procedure, so to speak. Dotan Asselmann, CTO and co-Founder at Theator, has developed a unique, computer vision-based solution to better assess surgery practices and outcomes. In this way, Dotan hopes to create a new way for hospital administrations and surgeons to provide consistent, predictable surgical care.

Personalization goes beyond software and gadgets and can take on new meaning as entrepreneurs find new ways to adapt these ideas into various legacy industries. Katya Shokhina and Igor Podster began Winest so they could stop "whining" about bad and overly expensive wine choices, and, instead, bring the wine people actually want to their doorstep. With advanced algorithms to pair you with the wine you want and like, they are hoping to bring a new revolution with their digital sommelier.

3D mapping has changed the way that many stakeholders operate. From engineers to city planners to even everyday citizens on their way to work, 3D technology provides a much more comprehensive, updated view of an area than ever before. Avi Aflalo, CEO and co-founder of Simplex-Mapping has seen his company’s solution deployed over multiple industries, in multiple countries, with great success in redefining how 3D technology can drive greater efficiency and accuracy in real estate and urban planning. Now, with AI and other developments, Avi is looking to see how to integrate them into his platform to drive the new generation of 3D planning tools.

Hydroponics is a well-known growing technique that uses a water-based nutrient solution instead of soil for growth and is usually found in urban building projects where soil can be inconvenient or scarce. Sayon Chandrakanthan, CEO and Founder of Advanced Autoponics, has long toyed with hydroponics but wanted to make a system that did not require the maintenance often associated with hydroponics systems. So now, he and his team have made a solution to manage hydroponic systems remotely and completely automated, just install and start growing.

Developing a software product often requires inputs and collaboration from others on your team. As a team grows, so do the potential security risks. As developers are not necessarily cybersecurity experts, how can you manage safe inputs with security that doesn't disrupt development? Nir Valtman, Co-Founder and CEO at Arnica, experienced this challenge in his prior work experience as a CISO and wanted to create a system that will ensure products are secure from the start and help developers maintain a secure software supply chain. With a focus on community to help solve recurrent issues and guide product development, Nir has unleashed a new method of securing software development into the industry.

Farming needs a drastic facelift if we are to survive the effects of climate change and other environmental factors changing the way we grow food. Max Knight, CEO and Co-Founder at Urban Farms, has envisioned a new agricultural process, relying on robots and vertical space-saving technology to meet our food needs in a localized capacity. With pilot programs in the works and several hundred thousands of dollars invested, the potential for this technology is only, well, vertical.

Startups are no easy business, and often, in the middle of growing one, founders need to pivot. A pivot is essentially shifting business directions, perhaps changing the product or the business model, but the main point is that it is a significant change from the startup's original trajectory. As we continue our third episode following up with entrepreneur Ian Sanders, CEO and Founder of Blue Cape, we come to understand more about how founders should go about assessing a potential pivot and how sometimes certain elements of the business are just "out of your hands".

We all know content is king, but then why are not more companies investing in their content and public image? Omri Hurwitz, a well-known tech PR expert who writes for the likes of Forbes, Hackernoon, and Entrepreneur, and his public relations firm, Omri Hurwitz Media are changing the way companies and journalists relate to tech news. With a focus on stories that go beyond just funding news, Omri is focusing on data insights to propel his company's portfolio clients forward while helping them to realize that becoming their own media company is critical to their success.

Through their unique ecosystem and platform, Team8 is leading the charge in creating a value-adding venture firm and accelerating founders path to success. Liran Grinberg, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Team8, discusses how Team8 is de-risking company-building with its validation-obsessed foundry model, amongst other useful resources, while also diving into the current state of venture capital investments during a bear market. Together, we explore the future of venture capital and see how Team8 is helping to shape it.

When you think of digital transformation, many different topics and services come to mind.

For Philippe Cohen, CEO and Founder at Shefing, who has made it a priority for the last two decades to help companies develop digital solutions that will improve and streamline processes that grow their businesses, he sees digital transformation as a necessary step in today's simplification of the user journey. Therefore, your user becomes your most important stakeholder in digital development with the guiding light of simplicity leading the way.

The world often innovates faster than larger institutions, namely government. However, can the government be considered more of a partner in innovation?

Hagai Dror, Managing Director of Healthcare Israel, has managed to create a new situation, one where the government is an active stakeholder in pushing and adopting new, groundbreaking medical tech. And, this model, as well as the innovation it breeds, can be exported to change governments the world over.

There's no doubt that agriculture, worldwide, is facing some type of impending crisis. Between climate change, aging farmer populations, more comfortable jobs for young people, and other economic concerns, farms are shutting down and leaving the rest of us in a precarious situation. 

In Israel, Michael Eisenberg, Partner at Aleph VC, who has long valued a connection to the physical land, joined the organization over a known as "Hashomer Hahadash", The New Guard, over a decade ago to promote agriculture as an industry by reaching young and innovative farmers who wish to inject a fresh, new energy into the agricultural industry. With a recent initiative, he hopes to redefine agriculture in the mind of young people and keep Israel and international partners on the right path to adapt to the changes in agriculture that we are already seeing.

Sports technology as a field is growing as teams, clubs, and management all look for new ways to improve their performance. However, another unmet area is fan engagement - how do you keep the younger generations interested in sports in a digital age? 

Amir Raveh, Founder & CEO of Hype Sports Innovation, has built a global arena that has over 300 portfolio companies and 100 partners spanning the Premiere League, NFL, NBA, and more with the goal of connecting these teams with the technological solutions that will help them succeed and stay relevant in the future.

In recent years, sustainability and green tech experts have touted the idea of a circular economy: one that supports a model of targeted economic development based on principles of repurposing and reuse. Ron Gonen, Founder and CEO of Closed Loop Partners, an investment firm focused on the development of the circular economy, has long been working in championing this form of sustainable economic development by supporting goods and packaging companies, innovative recycling technologies, and advanced supply chains. He does so because he believes in its power to change our systems and he sees in the Israeli startup ecosystem a genuine partner in the sustainability revolution.

Ron was interviewed regarding his participation as a judge in a unique Toyota-funded project that encourages entrepreneurship for the environment.

It may seem weird to think that your car is actually more computer than machine these days. With onboard computers, the rise of electric vehicles and autonomous driving, and more ways to remain connected while on the road, your car is no longer just a machine for transporting you from point A to B, it is a digital device that must be treated as such. Roy Fridman, CEO & co-Founder at C2A Security, has his eyes set on creating a safer paradigm for the new generation of automobiles - one that actually sees them as computers on wheels that need a relevant level of cybersecurity. As our lives and cars become ever more digitally integrated into daily processes, Roy wants to make sure the general population is protected from malicious cyber attacks that target their cars and other automobile-related infrastructure.

The world of medical diagnosis is, sadly to say, outdated. Where people are still using the naked eye to draw serious medical conclusions, Erez Naaman, Co-Founder and CTO at Scopio Labs, and his partner found an opportunity to advance medical diagnostic technology. The Scopio team has developed a unique solution combining computational photography, AI, and hardware to improve the blood sample analysis workflow with the goal of diagnosing the disease earlier and ultimately saving lives.

It may be surprising, but a vast majority of law enforcement agencies are underprepared for the digital age. Relying still on dated storage, transfer, and data analysis techniques, Oren Yosifon, Chief of Technology at Cellebrite, aims to revamp these organizations with the tools needed to properly manage digital evidence and investigate crime. Now with a novel SaaS offering, not only does he believe Cellebrite will inevitably provide us with a safer society, but it will help these bodies, often the last to take on innovation, to adapt to the changing realities of crime.

Secondary investments have been growing in popularity in the last several years as tech companies see a new opportunity to both give liquidity to shareholders and receive value back as an enterprise. Moran Chamsi, Managing Director of Amplefields Investments recognized this burgeoning new field and capitalized on it by establishing a fund that specializes in secondary offerings for late-stage tech companies. With portfolio companies spanning cyber security to ad tech and everything in between, he is confident that secondary investments will become a pillar of startup financial roadmaps in the years to come.

Web accessibility has been an issue since the internet's adoption. In recent years, many software products and services have been developed to solve this growing need. Menashe Shani, CEO and Co-Founder of Purple Lens, aims to innovate on the traditional web accessibility offering by creating a software product that focuses on usability for all users as opposed to just accessibility for some. He hopes in time to re-educate web developers and business owners to understand how critical accessibility is for the user experience from the start of the web development process and how it will end up helping to increase business revenue and growth.

It is easy to say "just breathe", but do you really know what breathing can do for you? Somatic therapist and movement instructor, Edo Ceder, co-founder and CEO of Anicca, sees breath as a pillar of mental health and stress reduction. He and his team have therefore entered the wellness market at a point where breath meets body, building a wearable solution to help reconnect people to their breath to help them get through the day more calm.

There is more to communication than words - that we are all aware of in our daily interactions. And, in business negotiations and dealmaking, this subtext is even more significant. Ori Manor Zuckerman, CEO and Founder of Substrata, is building a machine-learning-based solution that can accurately interpret the subtext in emails and video calls. While initially trying to better map office politics, Ori has instead developed a methodology that can help dealmakers close more by better understanding the hierarchy, emotional expressions, and complexities they are presented with in any dealmaking environment.

With all the hype surrounding autonomous vehicles, it can be hard to remember that at the end of the day, they are cars and they need to be met with proper regulations. After all, with tragedies showcased throughout the news about self-driving vehicles gone wrong, these types of safety measures could save lives. Fortellix is changing the game of automated vehicle safety by developing its very own language to be used in testing these cars and the various challenges and obstacles they could face on the road. This digital language has been recognized as a global standard and Gil Amid, co-founder of Fortellix, hopes that this development will lead to a safer, self-driving, driving future.

Real estate is considered to be one of the greatest investment assets that a person can acquire, even more so when it is based in the USA. With opportunity that abounds and one of the world's biggest housing markets, US real estate is in many ways the dream for many real estate investors. But, what if you come from abroad, did you know it's virtually impossible to get financing to buy US real estate? Tim Mironov, Chief Data Scientist and co-founder at Lendai, believes in helping to level the playing field for global investors in the US real estate market and sees his solution as the next evolution in real estate financing, so foreigners can finally be able to buy that dream beach house in Maui or apartment in New York.

Web3 is a term used to describe the next evolution of the internet, as some claim. With a focus on virtual reality and immersive experiences, Web3 and the 'Metaverse' have the ability to transform the way we interact with each other, purchase goods, and engage with entertainment. Bonnka Lim, CMO of Tetavi, has embraced Web3 and the Metaverse while promoting volumetric capture technology that brings real people into the digital world and enables the creation of immersive content and interactive experiences.  In the near future, perhaps all our content will be powered by volumetric technology enabling creators to fully express their creativity and create more engaging digital content for Web3 and the Metaverse, making it hard to distinguish between real and volumetric-based videos.

When technology comes along to change the medical field, it is often met with lengthy testing and legal procedures, after all, people do not want to get something in their body if it is not safe. But would you believe that maybe what doctors are diagnosing, may not be entirely accurate and in fact are basing their assessment on outdated models? Eddy Benami, CTO & Co-Founder of Neuralight, is trying to create a method that innovates the current diagnosis procedure for neurological and psychological disorders so that people can actually be treated for what they have, and not what some professionals may think they have.

Cryptocurrency markets tanked. NFT markets have gone down dramatically. What are we witnessing, is it a crypto winter, apocalypse, or what? Tomer Niv, Crypto Investor at Entrée Capital, one of Israel's leading VC firms, suggests it is an opportunity for founders and entrepreneurs to enter the nascent industry and innovate. As the Web3 industry gains prominence, Tomer sees the current market slump as just another step in a market that is maturing, and the time to get in is - now!

As companies consistently look to expand globally, East Asian markets look ever more promising. Rani Shifron, founder of Healthier Globe and Israel Director for the IP2 Launchpad Taiwan-Israel Program, believes that Taiwan, more than any other nation, is the number one location for founders when trying to take their solution overseas, especially into Asia. With a booming tech sector, an ambition to grow, and their proximity to major Asian markets, Taiwan is poised to even replace giants like China and Japan when it comes to acting as the right point of entry for tech ventures as they scale internationally.

The news lately has been covering a wide range of financial topics that seem to spell some type of economic slowdown or recession, especially when it comes to the hi-tech sector globally. VCs are pulling back funding after a record 2021 year and companies are cutting down on expenses and staff. But, are we in for something much bigger, or is this simply a market correction? While no one has definite answers, Tzvika Gross, partner and head of financial services and global outsourcing at BDO Israel, offers his own theories about what is in store for the tech sector over the next year and suggests companies and founders prepare themselves accordingly.

Proving that your idea works is one of the most important and hardest parts of founding a startup. So when you finally do so, what's left to prove? Irad Eichler, Founder and CEO of Circles, has proven that his digital solution for specially curated support groups works and is more than a good idea. After a recent successful round A, he catches up with me to show that now he must work to scale.

Startups are popping up all the time but it is not like there is a guide for how to build a startup. But, why shouldn't there be? Ron Navon, Co-founder, Chief Design & Director of Marketing at ThinkUp, is on a mission to create a digital solution that will be the global platform for ideating, validating, and building a startup. The goal: to provide guidance to anyone who has a good idea and break the barriers of entry that currently exist for accelerating a startup.

When we think about travel and tourism, there are so many aspects in which technology has vastly altered and improved our experience. Yet, Bookaway.com started because of one main area that was missed: ground transportation. David Yitzhaki, Bookaway.com CEO and co-Founder, and his team have since navigated a pandemic that devastated the travel industry while devising new ways to meet the needs of consumers wanting a better process when it comes to the last mile in travel.

Episode 44, "Stealth Mode: Locked", introduced us to Ian Sanders, a CEO of a promising stealth startup who talked to us about his decision to stay in stealth and still manage to develop his company. As part of a follow-up series on Ian's growth, I caught up with him 6 months down the line, after he has officially come out of stealth mode, kinda. His company, called Blue Cape, already has some incredible traction, and we dive into Ian's journey to understand how he plans to revolutionize the world of epidemiology, as he flows with the twists and turns of his entrepreneurial journey.