Tech Roundup From Tel Aviv to Times Square, Mapping Israeli Start-ups in the Big Apple

A map of Israeli start-ups in New York: In May 2012, New York launched a service mapping the start-up companies operating in the city. The very same week, Israeli tech entrepreneur Ben Lang provided the Israeli reply – a map of start-ups in Israel, which is designed by Guy Franklin. Recently, Lang developed an addition representing Israeli high-tech companies in the Big Apple, which can be found at www.israelimappedinny.com. “Over the past half year companies like GetTaxi, Bizzabo, MyChecks and InPact have arrived in town,” Franklin, who actually created the map, told TheMarker. “Silicon Valley still constitutes the primary technological focus for Israeli companies, but New York has strengthened greatly as a result of Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s intensive work.”

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Israeli Comverse follows in the steps of Yahoo, forbids work from home: Comverse joined Yahoo this week in tossing the option of working from home. "We're finding that a number of employees are not coming regularly to the office," wrote human resources VP Kathy Harris in a mail sent to all company's employees. "Comverse team members are required to perform their roles in local Comverse offices," she said. Israeli high-tech workers responded to the move with dissatisfaction. “The moment they tell employees to return to the office, the message is they don’t trust them and are restricting them,” one of the employees said. “It will unnecessarily rattle nerves and raise objections.”

Singapore’s SingTel opening innovation center in Israel: Singapore communications provider SingTel announced this week it would open an innovation center in Israel in partnership with Amdocs to accompany local start-ups. The center is the third the company is building, alongside one in Singapore and another in Boston with MIT. According to the announcement, the center will partake in joint development with local start-ups and invest in companies through its corporate venture fund, Innov8, which has so far invested in two Israeli companies.

Google survey – 70% of all mobile apps developed in Israel make less than $1000 a year: Some 70% of mobile apps developed in Israel earn $1000 or less annually, and 30% of them don’t make anything at all, according to a survey by Google Israel. Google estimates there are between 2,000 and 3,000 app developers in Israel. According to the data, 7% of the apps earned between $10,000 and $100,000 in one year, and 8% earned over $100,000.

Innovid raises $11 million: Israeli company Innovid announced Wednesday that it raised $11 million in Series C funding. The interactive video company’s flagship software, iRoll, allows users to personalize ads and supply advertisers with effectiveness gauges. The company has raised $27 million so far. The funding comes from existing investors Sequoia Capital, Genesis Partners, and T-Venture, as well as new investor Vintage Investment Partners. The company employs 100 people, including 40 in Israel.