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Mind the Tech 2019

Tonight in London: Israel’s Tech Stars Meet London’s Top Businesspeople

Calcalist’s Mind the Tech conference is heading to London for the third time. On Thursday, Israeli entrepreneurs and tech leaders will meet with key executives at U.K. and multinational corporations

Omer Kabir 16:2108.09.19

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London’s calling Israeli innovation: a little over a month before Brexit’s extended deadline, Calcalist’s Mind the Tech conference is heading to London for the third time. The conference will take place this week on September 11-13 at Camden Market, bringing together some of the most prominent figures in the U.K. and Israeli tech and venture capital scenes.

The conference will kick off on Wednesday with a cocktail party. On Thursday, a conference that will focus on the tech world’s hottest trends today will take place at Camden House, the event space at Camden Market. Immediately after, a Meet & Pitch event will bring together Israeli entrepreneurs, leading investment funds, and key executives at U.K. and multinational corporations.

The conference is held in collaboration with LABS, KPMG, Camden Market, Gett, Remagine, UK Israel Tech Hub, EL AL, and Thelma Tourism.

For more information on the conference, click here.

SentinelOne CEO Tomer Weingarten (left), Teddy Sagi.

One of the keynote speakers at the conference will be Israeli-born businessman Teddy Sagi. In March 2014, Sagi paid GBP 400 million for London’s Camden Market, and has since then acquired additional London real estate. He also founded shared office venture Labs and is a controlling shareholder at London-listed cybersecurity company KAPE Technologies PLC and payment technology company SafeCharge International Group Ltd. Sagi makes few public appearances and his attendance at the conference is a rare opportunity to get a close look at the vision of one of Israel’s most successful businessmen.

Also in attendance will be Emma Lloyd, chief business development officer at London-headquartered media and telecommunications company Sky PLC. With 31,000 employees, Sky operates in seven European countries including the U.K., Germany, Italy, and Switzerland, and has 23 million customers. In The U.K., the company operates dozens of successful tv channels.

Adam Field, the head of global fan engagement at soccer team Chelsea FC, will speak on stage with Yossi Moldawsky, co-founder and active chairman of Ramat Gan, Israel-based venture capital firm Plus Ventures. The two will discuss how to recruit and maintain fans in an industry controlled by giant brands like Manchester United FC.

Wei Li, head of EMEA investment strategy for New York-headquartered BlackRock Inc., the largest investment fund in the world, is another notable participant. Li is also a commentator on leading economic channels such as Bloomberg and CNBC.

BP vice president David Gilmour (left), Citymapper founder and president Omid Ashtari.

David Gilmour is the vice president of business development at London-listed British Petroleum Inc. (BP), which in March committed $100 million towards new emissions reduction projects. In May 2018, the company invested $20 million in Israel-based quick-charge battery startup StoreDot Ltd. The two companies have also signed a strategic partnership, which Gilmour will discuss on stage together with StoreDot’s chief operating officer Erez Lorber.

Ricky Knox, the co-founder and CEO of Tandem Bank, is aiming to disrupt the established banking system by creating a completely independent mobile phone-based bank.

Megumi Ikeda is the managing director at Hearst Ventures. She began her professional career as a journalist and worked at Dow Jones and CNN. Ikeda is also a board member atLondon-based software company Signal Media Ltd. She previously headed the European arm of the Peacock Equity Fund, GE Capital, and NBCUniversal’s $250 million venture fund.

Hearst Ventures managing director Megumi Ikeda (left), Sky PLC chief business development officer Emma Lloyd.

Jonathan Tudor is the director of technology and innovation strategy at British energy company Centrica PLC, listed on the London Stock Exchange at a market capitalization of over GBP 10 billion. Previously, he was the global managing director of BP Ventures. Centrica, which provides services to around 28 million people and employs over 33,000 people, has a $140 million innovation fund focused mostly on Israel.

Tomer Weingarten, co-founder and CEO of Israel-linked cybersecurity company Sentinel Labs Inc., also known as SentinelOne, will also be in attendance. SentinelOne develops AI-based technology for identifying abnormal behavior in enterprise networks and has over 2,500 customers.

Rephael Sweary is the co-founder and president of WalkMe Inc., which adds a layer of on-screen navigation guidance prompts on top of existing websites, helping users navigate through web pages. The company has over 1,000 customers today, a fifth of them Fortune 500 companies.

Aviad Harell, co-founder of Israel-based business intelligence startup Sisense Ltd., is another conference attendee. Founded in 2004, Sisense develops software that allows companies with large datasets to gain insights on customers and users without requiring professional data analysis. Its customers include General Electric, Royal Philips NV, Nasdaq, Expedia Group, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, Mazda, and Air Canada.

Zack (“Tzahi”) Weisfeld serves as the general manager of Ignite, Intel Corp.’s startup accelerator in Israel, which focuses on artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, data-driven technologies, and more. Wiesfeld previously worked as the head of Microsoft for Startups.

Omid Ashtari is the founder and president of public transportation application developer Citymapper Ltd. The company’s app offers functions such as locating the nearest available electric scooter or shared bicycle and hailing a ride via services like Gett and Uber. The company recently launched a card that enables users in London to purchase a combined subscription to various mobility services.

Also in attendance will be Joel Bar-El, the CEO and co-founder of Trax Image Recognition, incorporated asTrax Technology Solutions Pte. Ltd. The company is currently raising a $100 million round at a pre-money valuation of $1.1 billion. Trax, which offers retailers image recognition and computer vision analytics tools, analyzes more than 8 million images taken by consumers in retail shops each month to generate business insights. Today, the company has 175 customers in 50 countries.

London is one of the top markets for Israeli taxi-hailing company Gett Inc., which has collaborations with all of the city’s public transportation entities. Amy Wyron, Gett’s vice president of business solutions, will discuss the company’s unique operations in London.

Autonomous drone developer Percepto, incorporated as Vision Cortex Ltd., develops computer vision and automation software for on-site drone systems. Co-Founder Ariel Avitan will be presenting the company’s drone, which launches from a charging box and operates autonomously, performing a number of security, safety, and inspection tasks essential for large industrial sites. The company raised a $15 million round in May.

Web telligence startup Cobwebs Technologies Ltd. announced it had raised $10 million from an unspecified U.S.-based hedge fund in March. The company develops a search engine capable of searching the dark web and the deep web for potentially illegal or terrorist activity. The system is capable of running background checks on individuals and providing real-time alerts on potentially harmful interactions.

Tandem Bank co-founder and CEO Ricky Knox (left), Nanomedic CEO Chen Barak.

Israel-based Nanomedic Technologies Ltd. develops and manufactures on-the-spot electrospun medical products. The company's signature product, a nanospun artificial layer of skin, aims to potentially replace the vast majority of traditional bandages. The transient fake skin can be combined with antibacterial creams, antibiotics, cannabinoids, hydrogel, and silicons, depending on the patient's needs. The company’s device has already been approved in the European Union and in Israel, and is in use in six EU hospitals and three Israeli ones.

Sports tech startup PlayerMaker, incorporated as Motionize Israel Ltd., develops a data-based football coaching tool designed to analyze metrics for physical, technical, and biomechanical performance. To collect data, PlayerMaker uses motion sensors installed on players’ shoes to track such indicators as gait and ball contact. PlayerMaker’s technology is used by football teams such as AFC Wimbledon, Atlanta United FC, and Israel’s Maccabi Tel Aviv FC. Founded by Guy Aharon, Sivan Postelnik, and Moran Gad, the company employs 45 people in Israel and London.

Haim Shani is the co-founder and general partner of Israel Growth Partners and the chairman of UK Israel Tech Hub. Shani is the former CEO of Nasdaq-listed NICE Systems Ltd. and one of the leading players in Israel’s tech sector.

Shirona Partem is head of corporate development at London-listed cybersecurity startup Kape Technologies PLC, part of the Teddy Sagi Group. Founded in 2011 as Crossrider PLC, Kape pivoted to the cybersecurity domain and changed its name in March. The company is traded on the London Stock Exchange submarket AIM at a market capitalization of $150 million.

Also attending the conference is Eze Vidra, co-founder of Tel Aviv-based venture capital firm Remagine Media Ventures LP. He is the founder of non-profit organization Techbikers, a former general partner at Google Ventures Europe, and was formerly chief innovation officer at Antidote.me.

David Fogel, co-founder and investor at Accelerated Digital Ventures, will also attend the event. Fogel, a former deputy director at Wayra UK, started his career in Israel, where he worked for a software services company. Fogel served as a mentor in five startup accelerators and worked with over 350 companies.

Yaron Shahar is the CEO of London-based LabTech Investments Ltd., which was founded in 2018 to manage the real estate acquired by the Teddy Sagi Group in recent years. LabTech’s portfolio includes London’s Camden Market and dozens of commercial buildings in the city. LabTech also operates Sagi’s shared-office venture LABS, which currently has five locations in London, and one in Tel Aviv on the top five floors of the Azrieli Sarona tower. LabTech also controls several tech companies that support its real estate activities.

Justine Zwerling is the head of primary markets Israel at the London Stock Exchange. Zwerling provides consultation and support for private companies and their investors when it comes to preparing for an initial public offering and assists them in establishing connections with other companies, investment banks, and public relations firms.

The conference will be hosted by Nimrod Kozlovski, a partner at Israel-based law firm HFN and a senior lecturer on cyber studies at Tel Aviv University. Additional participants are Dina Pasca-Raz, a partner at KPMG; Shahar Markovitch, the head of digital and information at Israel’s national carrier El Al Israel Airlines Ltd.; Iya Magen, CEO of Israeli travel agency Talma Travel and Tours Ltd.; and Ayelet Mavor, the director of the UK Israel Tech Hub.

Also in attendance will be Philip Watson, chief innovation officer at Citi Private Bank, the private banking subsidiary of Citigroup; Julie Kainz, a senior associate at Salesforce Ventures, the venture arm of San Francisco-headquartered customer relations management company Salesforce; John Stewart, global head of scouting and research at the Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC (RBS); Rikesh Shah, head of commercial innovation at Transport for London; Kevin Smith, a KPMG partner and the global co-chair of the firm’s Emerging Giants program; Jon Medved, founder and CEO of Jerusalem-based equity crowdfunding company OurCrowd Ltd.; Richard Anton, founder and general partner at London and Stockholm-based growth capital firm Oxx Ltd.