Covid-19, cyber, and military technology - CTech’s most popular stories of 2020
As the year comes to a close, CTech presents the top 10 articles you read and shared
1.
In first place by a large margin - the story that perhaps best symbolizes 2020. Nobel laureate and professor of Biology at Stanford University Michael Levitt dared to buck the prevailing trend and describe an optimistic scenario for humanity's coping with Covid-19. The test of time indicates that Levitt was too optimistic, but perhaps the story’s appeal was driven by the fact that he provided what readers have been looking for and still continue to look for - hope.
Michael Levitt Analysis: Corona Is Slowing Down, Humanity Will Survive
Michael Levitt. Photo: Reuters
2.
As a web site that serves as the gateway to the Israeli tech industry, it is only reasonable that the respectable second place on the list of most popular articles we will find the list of the 50 most promising Israeli startups. The list, which was compiled at the height of the outbreak in May, already identified changes that will go on to impact the entire industry following the Covid-19 pandemic.
50 Most Promising Israeli Startups 2020 - Covid-19 Edition
Tel Aviv. Photo: Bloomberg 3.
2018’s buzzword is still with us, proving it’s more than a fad. Blockchain technology has a lot to offer, and the Covid-19 spotlight can only increase its adoption in various sectors including supply chain, healthcare, finance, and taxation.
Covid-19 Might Be the Best Thing To Happen to the Blockchain Industry
Or Lokay Cohen, Bittax. Photo: PR
4.
Since the Covid-19 outbreak in January, hardly a week goes by without an Israeli healthcare breakthrough making headlines. The healthcare ecosystem was on the rise long before Covid-19, and Israeli healthcare startups are no longer relying solely on technology, clinical data, or IP to generate value. They are reinventing business models and elevating the industry.
250 companies and $6.5 billion: An in-depth look at Israel’s healthtech industry
Pitango HealthTech Fund: Ittai Harel (left), Managing Partner; Maya Perl, Principal; Guy Ezekiel, M.D., Managing Partner. Photo: Yoram Reshef 5.
The growing threat posed by hostile UAVs and the need to neutralize them from afar has resulted in a race to create personal devices to curb unauthorized drones, products that were previously only installed on vehicles.
Israeli army examining purchase of wearable anti-drone device
The SKYLOCK wearable device. Photo: SKYLOCK
6.
Documents submitted to an Israeli court revealed Israeli cyber startup Senpai’s methods of operation and its ties to questionable regimes, including its $1.5 million deal to supply Malaysia’s intelligence agency with surveillance tools to be used on civilians
Israeli Cyber Startup Senpai Helped Malaysia’s Corrupt Leader Spy on Opposition
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak. Photo: Bloomberg
7.
Asma al-Assad became a superstar from the moment the spotlight first shined on her. When in 2000 she married Bashar al-Assad, who had shortly beforehand been appointed president of Syria, she quickly became an international sensation. Appearing on the covers of magazines the likes of Vogue, she was presented as a symbol of everything that is delicate and humane. Then came the civil war that has been raging in Syria since 2011. Bashar’s international image changed overnight to that of a bloodthirsty tyrant slaughtering his own people and his wife was now seen as a disconnected socialite, busy spending money while her people were trampled.
How Asma Assad transformed from 'Desert Rose' into Syria's 'Iron Lady'
Asma Al-Assad. Photo: AFP 8.
One of Israeli tech's giants, IronSource, is gearing up for an IPO in the first half of 2021. IronSource's annual profit is estimated at $170 million and CVC paid $450 million for a 25.7% stake in the company just last October. Now the company is targeting a valuation of between $7 billion and $8 billion.
The biggest IPO in Israeli history? IronSource sets sights on $8 billion offering
The managment of IronSource. Photo: Tommy Harpaz
9.
Lemonade went overnight from being a unicorn that had never made a profit into a massive success. But there are some investors wondering whether the underwriters forced the company to leave money on the table
The truth behind the Lemonade surge, America’s most successful IPO of 2020
Lemonade co-founders Daniel Schreiber and Shai Wininger. Photo: Ben Kelmer 10,
The Israeli Defense Ministry is in negotiations to sell 29 retired F-16 fighter jets to a Canadian company, Calcalist has learned. The deal is valued at $100 million, and is set to be the largest of its kind ever. The aircraft will be used in training to simulate enemy combat threats, also known as the “Red Force”
Israel to sell surplus F-16s to Canadian company for $100 million
An F-16 aircraft. Photo: Jacob Wongwai
