The Innovator's Radar newsletter enables you to stay on top of the latest business innovations. Enjoy this week's edition.
Jennifer L. Schenker
Innovator Founder and Editor-in-Chief |
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| The Tel Aviv Sparks Innovation Summit, which took place March 26-27, highlighted how the Israeli tech sector is thriving despite the war. The sector is shifting from software to deep tech. The new areas of focus are AI and bioconvergence, the integration of biology, engineering, AI, and data science. (A panel on AI's impact on industry moderated by The Innovator's Editor-in-Chief is pictured here). Israel’s strengths in cybersecurity and defense technologies are also expected to be an advantage during a time of geopolitical instability and rising threats from cyber attacks and deepfakes.
In a fireside chat with conference chairman Dr. Yossi Vardi, Dror Bin, of the Israel Innovation Authority, an independent public entity that operates for the benefit of the Israeli innovation ecosystem, talked about how the last few years have been like living on a roller coaster. Covid, the war between Ukraine and Russia, inflation and the current war in Israel have all had an impact. But, he says, Israeli’s sector has come out stronger than ever. Israeli startup companies succeeded in raising $12.2 billion in 2024. This constituted a 31% increase in raised capital compared to 2023. “How come primarily foreign early-stage investors invested during war time? It is because we have such great startups here.” he says. There was also $16 billion in mergers and acquisitions in 2024, he says.
That is not to say there are not challenges, says Bin. Traveling in and out of the country has been difficult during wartime. Startup entrepreneurs are continuously being called up for reserve duty and the country’s political climate is tense. |
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- I N T E R V I E W O F T H E W E E K - |
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Who: Dr. Alon Stopel is the Chairman of the Israel Innovation Authority and Chief Scientist for Innovation at the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology. He previously served as Vice President and Chief Scientist of Elbit Systems, an Israel-based international military technology company and defense contractor, and held a variety of senior positions in the Directorate for Research and Development of Military Weapons and Technological Infrastructure in the country’s Ministry of Defense. Stopel was a speaker at the Sparks Innovation Summit in Tel Aviv on March 27.
Topic: Innovation in time of war and Israel's current focus on AI and the bioeconomy
Quote: "We live in a region where security challenges have always existed. Local entrepreneurship combined with the necessity to create out-of-the-box solutions to security challenges has resulted in some of the greatest technologies. Many started in the defense sector but migrated to the civilian sector as well, such as cybersecurity."
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- S T A R T U P O F T H E W E E K - |
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| Israel’s Itay&Beyond, a drug discovery platform company, is harnessing brain-on-a chip technology and the power of AI to derisk the drug development process and help pharmaceutical companies develop more effective treatments for neurological and psychiatric disorders.
Some 254 million people around the world struggle with one or more neurological and psychiatric problems, affecting more than 3% of the global population. Yet, the chances of a new drug being efficient in the clinic after successful preclinical studies are about 1%, says CEO and Co-founder neuroscientist Dr. Nisim Perets.
"Nothing works so far to accurately predict the efficiency of drugs, so we needed to develop a new, radical approach,” he says.
The company was on a panel about AI's impact on industry moderated by The Innovator's Editor-in-Chief during the Tel Aviv Sparks Innovation Summit on March 26. |
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- N U M B E R O F T H E W E E K - |
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Number of people who provided DNA testing company 23andMe with their genetic information, saliva samples, and family and personal health history, 23andMe filed for chapter 11 this week and announced the resignation of its chief executive officer, Anne Wojcicki. After a 2023 data breach in which attackers gained access to information from close to 7 million customer profiles, 23andMe’s stock price plummeted, and the company settled a class-action lawsuit for $30 million, It is now trying to sell itself through bankruptcy. Its customers, worried about what will happen to their personal data, are rushing to try and delete their information before it is sold. Unlike with other forms of medical data few guardrails protect genetic data stored by companies like 23andMe.
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In research published in Nature, a team of organizations including JPMorgan Chase, Quantinuum, University of Texas-Austin and Oak Ridge National Laboratory announced the first experimentally demonstrated "certified randomness" by a quantum computer. Commercial applications include critical infrastructure, cryptography, cryptocurrency, the gambling industry and election integrity, The New York Times reports that U.S. scientists are seeking asylum in Europe. |
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The Innovator's Editor-in-Chief Will Be Moderating At The Following Events:
- VivaTech, June 11-14, Paris, France
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