Haifa's hiCenter today announced that it has invested NIS 10 million in four new portfolio companies, three in the new media, mobile, and Internet sectors, and one medical devices start-up. hiCenter is a subsidiary of Haifa Economic Corporation and is part of the Office of the Chief Scientist's Technological Incubators Program at the Ministry of the Economy.
Gbooking Ltd. is developing search and booking software for businesses. It was founded in 2011 by CEO Alexander Naslednikov. In addition to hiCenter, US accelerator program Betaspring, and four Russian venture capital funds - Altair Capital, Vestor.In, Bricolage Seed Fund, and The Untitled - have invested in the company. The company is already collaborating with a leading Russian search engine.
Two of the companies are mobile app start-ups, which received seed funding from Jeff Pulver and began at hiCenter's Top Start-Up program. Moments was founded in 2013 by CEO Ido Goren and VP content Revital Darom. It has developed an app to attach a four-second voiceover to any picture in a smartphone. The app was launched for iPhones six weeks ago, and has tens of thousands of users in Japan, India, and the Philippines. An Android version will be launched in a few weeks.
Pronto.ly Ltd. was founded in 2013 by CEO Nicky Pappo and VP marketing Moran Halevi. It has developed a protocol for a data exchange platform between smartphones and other devices without specialized hardware. The project is designed for high security app developers, such as m-payment solutions. It recently closed several deals to install its solutions at m-payment and mobile electronic wallet vendors. The company expects to expand to other fields, such as data exchange between social networks (pictures, user profiles), and customer club solutions.
Flowmed Ltd. was founded in 2012 by Ehud Nakash. It is developing a robotic system for the nonstop, regulated, flow of medical solutions (Continuous Irrigation) for surgeries that require a continuous flow of solution throughout the surgery. The supply of solutions is currently handled manually, which can cause problems and delays in 25% of surgical procedures. The company's solution is the first to solve this problem.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on November 24, 2013
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