Israel AV Mobility Newsletter — Oct. 2020
By: Stav Shvartz
Tags: Israel Tech, Automotive, Autonomous Cars, Autonomous Vehicles, Mobility

Despite the lockdown after a 2nd wave of the pandemic, Israeli companies made incredible breakthroughs during last month. Electric Vehicle implementation is made accessible by REE new platforms while Electreon expend its deployment at Europe of wireless charging infrastructure. In the AV investment sector, AdaSky raised $15 million, while the start-up foretellix made a huge step into the buy-side and acquired Metamoto. The regulation regarding autonomous driving vehicles is being formed recently and I suggest to stay tuned for the latest updates on the decisions that will make a significant impact on the local industry. Enjoy reading~

Israel AV Mobility Newsletter — Oct. 2020

Oct. 2nd: Foresight Autonomous Holdings (פורסייט אוטונומס הולדינגס בע”מ) wholly owned subsidiary Eye-Net Mobile Ltd. (איי-נט מובייל בע”מ) , signs distribution agreement with leading Japanese trading company Cornes Technologies. According to the agreement, Cornes Technologies will promote and assist in the integration of the Eye-Net™ cellular-based, vehicle-to-everything accident prevention solution suite in products and applications of third parties in Japan. The software-based platform uses smartphone applications and cellular infrastructure to identify and predict potential traffic collisions and provide real-time alerts.

Video: https://eyenet-mobile.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/How_it_works_Short.mp4

Oct. 6th: Israeli wireless vehicle charging company ElectReon Wireless Ltd. (אלקטריאון) continues to expand in Europe and partners with road construction company Eurovia. The companies signed an MOU to build wireless electric roads systems in Germany, France, and Belgium. ElectReon already has projects in Germany, Sweden and Israel, and recently signed agreements with German energy company Energie Baden-Württemberg AG (EnBW) and Israeli Bus Company Dan Bus Co. to install wireless electric roads.

Oct. 7th: Israeli start-up REE Automotive (REE אוטומוטיב) Reveals 3 prototypes of EV platforms. The company released a new video showcase its modular next-Generation, X-by-Wire technology in the P1, P2 and P4 platforms. The P1 scales up to 1.3-ton GVW and is geared for LSV last-mile inner-city delivery applications. The P2 platform scales up to 2.5-tons GVW and is designed to transport passengers and cargo. The P4 platform offers up to 4.5-tons GVW and is uniquely built for the North American market delivery segment. REE already has strategic collaborations with global OEMs such as; Hino Motors Ltd., Toyota Group’s truck subsidiary, Indian Mahindra and Mitsubishi is one if its investors.

Oct. 7th: After their partnership in May 2019, Tel Aviv-based company Foretellix (Foretellix Ltd.) announced the acquisition of California-based Metamoto, a developer of a cloud-based solution for testing and validation of automotive software. Foretellix, which develops verifying driver assistance and autonomous systems, will incorporate Metamoto’s technology in its platform. This will assist accelerate the development of Foretellix simulator-agnostic scalable verification & validation solution and allow testing for ADAS systems and autonomous vehicles. Following the acquisition, Foretellix will open a US R&D center to expand its US operation.

Oct. 8th: Huawei announced that Moovit App is now available for download on its AppGallery. The app is available as a web version and a customized version on the Huawei browser as well. Huawei says that he app service will extend to more than 100 countries and 45 languages. Already 865 million people use the Moovit service across 3200 cities. Since Huawei is banned from using Google services and Google Play AppStore, this embracement of Moovit is crucial for the Israeli startup expansion.

Oct. 11th: Enroute ,(אונרוט) was selected to take part in Dubai-based incubator Intelak. Over the upcoming months, Enroute will work with the various entities that are part of the program including Emirates airline, Dubai Department of tourism and Microsoft to integrate its technological platform in the transportation and aviation applications in the UAE. Enroute provides users with a personalized, location-based commerce platform for ride hailing and mass transit applications, which allows passengers to travel for free while they shop, interact and collect items close to their destination.

Oct. 13th: Foresight Autonomous Holdings affiliate Rail Vision (רייל ויז’ן), has secured additional investment from German company Knorr-Bremse. The two signed an agreement of $10M in funding, the second investment of Knorr-Bremse in Rail Vision, following an original investment of $10m last year. Knorr-Bremse will now own a total of 36.8% of Rail Vision’s outstanding share capital. Rail Vision is a provider of obstacle detection & classification systems in the railway industry. Rail Vision systems detect objects on and along the tracks from up to 2 kilometers with the unique cognitive fusion sensor technology, based on advanced electro-optic sensors, AI, and deep learning.

Video: https://railvision.io/wp-content/uploads/passenger-platform-safety.mp4

Oct. 13th: Developer of fleet integration and workforce management solutions Micronet (מיקרונט בע”מ), completed a NIS 12.3 Million IPO. The IPO was led by Cybele Holdings and Naschitz Brandes Amir law firm. 18,400 shares were issued to the public, including 100 shares and 80 options each, at a price of NIS 670 per unit, higher than the minimum price of NIS 600 per unit.

Oct. 14th: Innoviz Technologies ,(אינוויז) provider of remote-sensing and computer-vision solutions, launched its next-gen LiDAR sensor called “InnovizTwo”. The new MEMS sensor target a lower cost than previous generation, aiming at several hundreds of dollars per unit. Low price target is essential for LiDAR adoption at ADAS/ L2+ autonomous safety systems.

Oct. 14th: Dataloop AI (דאטה לופ) raises $11M in series A round for its AI data management platform. The round was led by Amiti Ventures, with participation from F2 Venture Capital, OurCrowd, NextLeap Ventures and SeedIL Ventures. The total investment raised by Dataloop is now $16M, including $5M seed round. Dataloop specializes in helping businesses manage and annotate their data for their AI projects, allowing companies to easily implement AI algorithms in their production environment. Dataloop’s platform integrates automatic active learning with human-in-the-loop functions for data validation, the data accuracy is an integral part in optimizing autonomous systems.

Oct. 14th: Israeli scooter sharing company LEO (LEO Ride), partners with global hospitality platform Selina. Leo is estimated to sell 40% of its shares to 3 investors; Selina, led by former WeWork co-founder and CEO, Adam Neumann, Israeli actor Lior Raz and Ron Zuckerman. Recently Leo abandoned their B2C business model in Tel Aviv and pivoted towards a B2B business model. As part of the partnership, Selena will offer Leo’s scooter service at the chain’s branches, first in Israel, Mexico and Brazil, and later in more than 18 countries around the world.

Oct. 14th: Digital asset software solution start-up vHive (vHive Tech Ltd.), raises $4 million in series A+ round. The round led by Deutsche Telekom alongside Octopus Ventures and StageOne Ventures, as an extension of last year’s $5.5M A round. vHive provides Software Solution for Autonomous Drone Hives, helping enterprises accelerate their continuous digital transformation and make better decisions based on accurate field data and analytics.

https://player.vimeo.com/external/393911683.hd.mp4?s=0c6b25f35180e521de7b240c3cb2667b6bed494b&profile_id=175

Oct. 14th: Provider of automotive cybersecurity solutions, C2A Security (C2A Security Automotive Cyber Security) releases the first cybersecurity lifecycle management platform. With the ever growing challenges of vehicle cybersecurity with an open platform and exposure to cyber attacks, The AutoSec platform aims to empower OEMs and Tier 1s with the visibility and control required to meet all the cybersecurity needs of connected vehicles: enabling streamlined management of risk assessment, planning, policy creation and policy enforcement.

Oct. 15th: Wireless communications hardware company RADWIN (רדווין), teams up with American transportation technology company, Virgin Hyperloop for their hyperloop project. As part of the collaboration, Radwin’s will implement its advanced wireless communications solutions in Virgin’s high-speed pods. The hyperloop is a high-speed transportation system, in which specialized pods accelerated through a low-pressure tube to achieve speeds near the speed of sound.

Oct. 19th: Mobileye and Foretellix (Foretellix Ltd.) successfully demonstrated autonomous driving solution, which complies with the UN regulation on ALKS safety. The two joined forces to demonstrate Automatic Lane-Keeping System solution, which includes support of Mobileye’s Responsibility-Sensitive Safety (RSS). The Foretellix solution will enable car manufactures to comply with the world’s first Level-3 regulation for autonomous driving, which will enter into force already at January 2021.

Oct. 19th: Taiwanese company MediaTek, the world’s 4th largest global fabless semiconductor company, invests in Israeli GaN power electronics supplier VisIC Technologies (VisIC Technologies Ltd.) The strategic investment is part of VisIC’s Series E round and will allow it to expand its product portfolio for electric vehicles and high power systems and to establish its production capabilities. In May this year, VisIC also partnered with German car system maker ZF Friedrichshafen AG to develop car power inverter.

Oct. 22nd: Israeli thermal sensor manufacturer AdaSky (אדסקיי בע”מ) raised $15 million in series B funding round. The round was led by Japanese company Kyocera Corporation and existing shareholders, South Korean parts manufacturer Sungwoo Hitech Co., Ltd. So far, AdaSky has raised a total of $35 million, following its latest $20 million investment from Sungwoo Hitech in 2018. AdaSky, develops and manufactures systems combining high-resolution thermal vision sensors with artificial intelligence that allows autonomous vehicles to sense and analyze their surroundings using object temperature.

Oct. 28th: Developer of next generation 4D imaging radar solutions Arbe Robotics (ארבה רובוטיקס), announced the launch of its first 2K high resolution Imaging radar development platform for ADAS and Autonomous Vehicles. Arbe is already collaborating with over 20 OEMs and Tier 1 Suppliers worldwide, which are set to implemented Arbe’s technology. Reports from the US claim that Tesla will also use Arbe’s new 4D Technology and will launch a groundbreaking Radar system in its vehicles.

Sources: Globes, PR Newswire, Calcalist, Businesswire, foretellix, Calcalis Tech, Gizmochina, Geektime, Dataloop, Startup Nation Central, Railway Technology, PR Newswire, TechTime, CTech, C2A Security, Mobileye, Foretellix, VisIC Technologies, AdaSky, Micronet, Sponsor, Radwin, Brilliant, ArbeRobotics, electrek.