Climate tech investments in Israel are growing 2.6 times faster than the rest of the world
PLANETech and the Israel Innovation Authority have updated a report mapping the country’s climate tech ecosystem. As part of this year’s update, PLANETech has identified 694 climate tech startups that have a direct impact on reducing greenhouse gas emissions or adapting to climate change, an increase of 57 startups compared to the previous year. 1 in every 7 startups founded in 2021 will be from the field of climate tech, a significant increase from 9% to 14% in one year. Moreover, investments in tech-climate companies in Israel between 2018-2021 increased by 340%, 2.6 times faster than global investments in climate technology. Investments between 2021-2018 reached 5.2 billion dollars and reached almost 1.5 billion in the first half of 2022. This means that 15% of the total investment in Israeli high-tech goes to climate tech companies, a a jump of about 50% compared to 2021 when only 10% of investments went to companies from the field.
VineSight Raises $4 Million in Seed to Fight Online Misinformation
VineSight, the platform that monitors, analyzes and mitigates online misinformation and toxicity against brands, campaigns and causes, today announced $4 million in seed funding. The round was led by AnD Ventures, Lightbank, 25Madison, Technion investment arms, and additional angel investors. VineSight was founded in 2018 by Gideon Blocq (CEO), Nir Hauser (CTO), Yoel Grinshpon (VP of Research).
Walmart has started using Israeli tech to help online shoppers get better visuals
American retail giant Walmart has begun allowing its US customers to use Israeli technology brought to us by Zeekit, which Walmart bought last year. Zeekit’s technology allows customers to take photos of themselves and virtually “measure” the clothes Walmart offers before they buy them. The technology is based on matching the topography of the customer’s body to the garment, to obtain the most accurate results possible without even entering a changing room. Zeekit was founded by Yael Vizel (CEO), Alon Kristal (CTO), and Nir Appleboim (VP R&D).
Israeli startup Xtype has raised $5.8 million
Xtype is building an automation platform for uploading and releasing versions to ServiceNow and other low-code systems. According to the company, its product reduces the number of errors and escalations by “combining modern DevOps practices with automation and synchronization technology tailored specifically to ServiceNow.” The funding round was led by Columbia Capital with participation from Inner Loop Capital and SaaS Ventures. Xtype was founded in 2020 by Ron Gidron (CEO), Peter Szulman (CTO) and Tobi Stanzel (VP of Product).