Recently we were asked how the latest conflict affected the market in Israel. We believe that the answer is the same for our startups at F2 as it is for the Startup Nation. In a word, the answer is resilience. Coming right off the back of the pandemic, the conflict once again tested Israel’s resilience and forged our determination.
Overall, the first quarter was an incredibly productive period for the fund, with interest and investment in Israeli deep technology and our core sectors higher than we have ever seen it before. Read more
Explorium Raises $75 Million Series C
In machine learning, a feature is a property or characteristic of the phenomenon being observed. Feature engineering — the process of using domain knowledge to extract features from raw data via data-mining techniques — is often arduous. According to a Forbes survey, data scientists spend 80% of their time on data preparation, and 76% view it as the least enjoyable part of their work.
It’s also expensive. Trifecta pegs the collective data prep cost for organizations at $450 billion. Explorium automatically extracts, engineers, aggregates, and integrates the relevant features from data to power sophisticated predictive algorithms, evaluating hundreds before scoring, ranking, and deploying the top performers.
“We have a saying at Explorium — ‘No matter how many gadgets you have in the kitchen, you need the right ingredients to cook a good meal’, Maor Shlomo, CEO, Explorium
Read more about Explorium’s funding round
Parametrix Raises $17.5 Million Series A
First-of-its-kind downtime insurance offering, Parametrix, announced that it has raised $17.5M in funding.
“The business world’s dependence on cloud solutions is rapidly accelerating. To help them hedge this external risk, we created a new category in the insurance market by introducing reliable protection from the cloud downtime incidents that inevitably occur“, explains Yonatan Hatzor, CEO at Parametrix Insurance. “I am very proud that FirstMark and F2 Venture Capital have joined our journey, and excited to move together into our rapid growth phase during which we will expand our operations around the world.”
Read more about Parametrix funding round
VOOM Recognized as a Cool Gartner Vendor
Leading Insurtech company for new mobility, VOOM, has been named a Cool Vendor in Gartner 2021 Cool Vendors in insurance.
“We are honored to be recognized as a Gartner Cool Vendor,” said Tomer Kashi, co-founder and CEO of VOOM. “Our mission is to ensure that both insurance providers and customers have the right technology in place to experience the most flexible insurance options possible. We believe that InsurTech has the potential to change mobility and many other aspects of our lives.”
Read more about Cool Gartner recognition
Oriient Partners with Leading DIY Store Chain in Germany
toom Baumark, a leading DIY store chain in Germany with over 300 stores, has chosen Oriient’s AI-powered realogram generation to enhance customer experience and streamline operations.
Oriient will provide in-store navigation: improving brick-and-mortar shopping journeys, cutting costs by accelerating stocking and packing rate, and optimizing the layout.
Read more about their partnership
Monday Files for Wall Street IPO
GP backed company Monday.com, a team management software platform, has filed confidentially with the US Securities and Exchange Commission for a Wall Street Initial Public Offering (IPO).
“Bloomberg” reports that Monday.com is working with Goldman Sachs Group on the listing. The IPO could take place as soon as this quarter, though details are under wraps.
HoneyBook Raises $155M at $1B+ Valuation
Junction alumni HoneyBook has raised $155M at $1B+ valuation for their workflow management system. They will use their new capital to continue product development and “dramatically” boost their headcount across the San Francisco and Tel Aviv offices.
“We’re seeing so much demand for additional services and products, so we definitely want to invest and create better ways for our members to present themselves online,” explains CEO Oz Alon.
Read more about HoneyBook’s round
