Israel AV Mobility Newsletter — May. 2021
Autonomous vehicle and electric vehicles, may relay even further on Israeli tech! Hailo AI automotive chip won 2021 Edge AI and Valens closed the SPAC details at USD 1.6 billion valuation! If this is not exciting enough than StoreDot is planning testing out of space, to improve its fast-charging technology.
Enjoy reading~
Israel AV Mobility Newsletter — May. 2021
May 2nd: Rail Vision (רייל ויז׳ן), a provider of obstacle detection & classification systems in the railway industry, is considering a TASE IPO. The company submitted a prospectus draft to the The Israel Securities Authority prior to its planned IPO on The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. This was announced following a report by Foresight, which holds 19.36% of Rail-Vision shares. At this stage, the IPO date and the amount of capital Ray-Vision is interested in raising are unknown. Rail Vision’s largest investor is German company Knorr-Bremse, which has invested $20 million and holds 36.8% of the shares.
May 4th: 4D imaging Radar provider, Arbe Robotics (ארבה רובוטיקס), announced its radar availability on NVIDIA DRIVE Platform, which target to accelerate the development of autonomous vehicles. By allowing OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers to access 4D imaging radar data on NVIDIA’s AV platform, Arbe hope its solution will be used for advanced safety applications, sensor fusion and perception algorithm development.
May 5th: Organic fast-charging batteries developer, StoreDot (סטורדוט בע”מ), will test its fast charging battery in space. StoreDot together with Israeli Electric Company have been approved by NASA to conduct the first space-based R&D program of new battery materials. The two plan to send fast charging (XFC) battery technology for electric vehicles to the International Space Station in 2022 for two weeks of rigorous testing in zero gravity conditions. The results are expected to pave the way for a new generation of advanced lithium-ion batteries and accelerate the time to market of StoreDot’s ‘5-minute’ charge battery by bringing energy density and battery lifecycle in line with electric vehicles requirements.
May 5th: Smartphone distraction prevention company SaverOne (סייבר וואן) is advancing towards a Nasdaq IPO. Management is considering two options at the moment — double registration or a SPAC merger at a company valuation of $120 million (NIS 390 million). SaverOne stock is beeing traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange since June 2020 at a valuation of NIS 200 million, and recently share-price increased by 10% .
May 6th: Dual-sided RFPM architecture motor developer EVR Motors (אי.וי.אר מוטורס) has unveiled its new electric motor for vehicles. The small, lightweight motor is based on EVR’s patented topology, which it calls TSRF (Trapezoidal Stator Radial Flux). The company claims the new motor is half the size and 10% lighter compared with existing RFPM (Radial Flux Permanent Magnet) motors with similar power. EVR Motors expects that its new architecture for motors will be adapted to operate within a variety of automotive OEMs and Tier 1s. The motoris ready for productionand scheduled for release later this year. Founded in 2012, EVR Motors has raised a total of $5.5 million to date, from various investors including Marius Nacht, Teramips Technologies, SIBF (South Israel Bridge Fund VC), and grants from the Israel Innovation Authority.
May 7th: After partnering with Magna, Navya and Hino Motors last month, REE Automotive (אוטומוטיב REE) also joining American Axle & Manufacturing Inc. (AAM) to develop new electric propulsion system for e-Mobility. The two companies intend to leverage AAM’s system integration capabilities and focus on NVH (noise, vibration and harshness) reduction to incorporate AAM’s lightweight and efficient next generation electric drive units, which will feature fully integrated high-speed motors and inverter technology, into REE’s highly modular REEcorner™ technology that enables a fully-flat EV chassis for multiple commercial vehicle applications. The electric drive units will be developed at AAM’s Advanced Technology and Development Center in Detroit planned to be deliver by the end of 2021.
May 18th: Internal combustion engine developer Aquarius Engines (אקווריוס אנג’ינס), successfully tests hydrogen-fueled engine that it is developing. The Company reports that the linear engine successfully underwent a test carries out with Austrian company ALV, which specializes in development, simulation and testing of propulsion systems and their integration in different vehicles. The 10kg engine runs on hydrogen only, emitting gases at negligible to zero levels. Founded in Israel, Aquarius has offices also in Poland, Germany, and Italy. Among its shareholders are Marius Nacht, Japanese corporation Musashi, and Japanese vehicle parts company TPR.
May 18th: Innoviz Technologies (אינווייז) partners with computer vision software company Sensagrate, to enable smart city application. ״InnovizOne״ system will be integrated in Sensagrate’s SensaVision platform to enable a variety of applications that will target to improve pedestrian and automobile safety, prevent collisions at intersections, collect unique data for root cause analysis of pedestrian related incidents and predictive analytics.
May 18th: Mobileye (מובילאיי) and ZF announced collaboration to jointly develop advanced safety systems for Toyota Motor Corp vehicles. Mobileye will provide its camera-based system-on-a-chip, which will be integrated with ZF latest automotive radar system. The technologies will enhance a range of automated safety functions, including automatic emergency braking, adaptive cruise control and lane keeping assistance.
May 19th: Shortwave infrared (SWIR) imaging developer, TriEye (טרי-איי), will collaborate with Continental Engineering Services (CES) to implement SWIR imaging systems in Driver Monitoring Systems. TriEye’s sensing solution focus on challenging visibility conditions, such as high glare from the sun or shade patterns from the surroundings. The collaboration includes evaluation of SWIR for remote material sensing in comparison to other sensor modalities, such as enhanced user identification capabilities or precise seat belt detection.
May 20th: Israeli cloud-based mobility cybersecurity company Upstream Security (אפסטרים סקיוריטי) has raised $36 million in series C funding round. The round was led by Japanese Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance (MSI), a subsidiary of MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings. The investment is part of a strategic partnership between Upstream and MSI, and is part of a large investment round that will be announced in the second quarter of 2021. The strategic partnership will allow insurance companies to use connected vehicle data to gain insights into insurance-related areas including improved risk management and enhanced customer experience. Since it was founded in 2017, Upstream Security has raised $77 million from Volvo Car Corporation, Hyundai, Maniv Mobility and Salesforce Ventures.
May 20th: Holding and investment company Galileo Tech (גלילאו טק בע”מ), signed an MOU with Gefen Biomed Investments (גפן השקעות ביומד בע״מ), to merge its independent activities of Traffiex AI platform, which manages traffic using smart traffic lights. As part of the transaction, Galileo will transfer to Geffen’s ownership full rights in the platform activity , in exchange for 68.5% of Geffen shares to Galileo Detailed. The merged company aims to raise 16 million NIS from institutional entities and strategic investors.
May 20th: Netivei Israel (נתיבי ישראל) and the Israel Smart Mobility Living Lab launched a pilot to promote an AI-based Israeli traffic management center. The collaborated team will use a technology platform promoted by Israel Smart Mobility Living Lab, with additional investment of USD1 million from Israel Innovation Authority (הרשות לחדשנות)and Israel Smart Transportation Management (מנהלת תחבורה חכמה). The project is aimed to significantly reduce traffic congestion and decrease road accidents by sharing information between technology companies, implementing information integration and drawing conclusions in real time. The platform will use information from various sources, including Waze users, Moovit public transportation app, road cameras and drones.
May 25th: After April reports of merger negotiations, Israeli chipmaker Valens Semiconductor (ואלנס) will merge with US SPAC PTK Acquisition Corp at a USD 1.16 billion. Valens will be traded on NYSE under VLN ticker. To date, the company has raised $167 million in five financing rounds, the last of which was at the end of 2018, at a valuation of USD 500 million. The SPAC is expected to deliver USD 240 million in gross proceeds, including USD 115 million in cash (held in PTK’s trust account) and USD 125 million from PIPE offering led by institutional investor and by Mediatek (מדיה-טק).
May 26th: Only one day after Valens announcement, an impressive achievement for another Israeli chipmaker — Hailo (היילו), which was selected as ‘Best Edge AI Processor’ winner at 2021 Edge AI and Vision Product of the Year Awards. The awards recognize Hailo-8, an AI processor for edge devices, and the chipmaker target to enable computer vision. Hailo-8 processor features up to 26 TOPS (Tera Operations Per Second), built with an architecture that helps edge devices run deep learning applications.
May 27th: Noninvasive Brain–Computer Interface Platform, CorrActions, raised $2.7M in a seed round to help avoid errors in human-machine interactions. Participated in this round are Venture Israel, Operator Partners and the Israeli Innovation Authority (רשות החדשנות). Based out of OurCrowd’s Labs/02 incubator, CorrActions uses sensor data to identify user’s cognitive state and detect errors 150 milliseconds before they occur by “decoding unconscious brain signals through body motion monitoring.” The company says it will use the new funding to further develop its algorithms and support its current deployment partners, especially in the automotive industry.
May 27th: Chinese automobile manufacturer GEELY, expected to enter Israel by 2021 last quarter. The Chinese company started with constructing its main showroom in Tel Aviv. The brand, which is exclusively imported to Israel by Union Group (קבוצת יוניון) , will first enter the israeli market with its electric crossover model with a driving range of about 400km, at an estimated price of NIS 150,000 -170,000.
Sources: TechTime, CISION PR Newswire, CTech, Globes, Sponsor, אנשים ומחשבים, TechCrunch.
