Savor, a California-based startup founded in 2021, developed a thermochemical process using carbon dioxide, hydrogen, and oxygen to create dairy-free butter, cheese, ice cream, and milk alternatives.

The company, backed by Bill Gates, says it aims to mimic the taste, texture, and appearance of traditional dairy products but with a significantly lower carbon footprint, as they don't require livestock production.

Savor's butter alternative is not yet available for consumers. The startup is seeking regulatory approval and plans to begin sales in 2025, with interest growing among food enthusiasts and environmentalists.

It plans to expand into creating various fat-based foods without using traditional resources.

The new butter alternative has a significantly lower carbon footprint compared to traditional butter, emitting less than 0.8g CO2 equivalent per kg.

Sources: Boldsky, The Guardian, Fast Company, Futurism, Times of India, Deccan Herald, Agriland, The iBulletin, Greek Reporter, Trend Hunter, The Saxon, One Green Planet, Gigazine, Economic Times, TechiExpert, IndiaTimes, Hindustan Times.

This article was written in collaboration with Generative AI news company Alchemiq.

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Fei-Fei Li, a renowned AI expert and former Stanford University professor, founded World Labs in April 2023 while on partial leave from Stanford. The startup aims to develop "spatial intelligence" in AI for humanlike processing of visual data and understanding three-dimensional spaces, with potential applications in robotics, AR, VR, computer vision, healthcare, and manufacturing.

World Labs secured almost $100 million in funding and achieved a valuation exceeding $1 billion in just four months, with top investors like Andreessen Horowitz and Radical Ventures participating in two funding rounds. Li joined Radical Ventures as a partner.

Dubbed the "Godmother of AI," Fei-Fei Li gained recognition for developing ImageNet in 2007, a dataset of labeled images that greatly impacted computer vision and led to breakthroughs in visual data analysis, advancing AI model training.

Li has held influential roles, including Chief Scientist of AI/ML at Google Cloud and co-director of Stanford's Human-Centered AI Institute, shaping AI strategies and advocating for ethical principles, diversity, fairness, transparency, and accountability in AI development.

Investor interest in AI has surged, with over $27 billion invested in U.S. AI startups in three months, following the launch of ChatGPT by OpenAI, and initiatives like Jeff Bezos-backed Anthropic and Menlo Ventures' $100 million fund for early-stage AI startups.

Fei-Fei Li consults policymakers on setting up regulations for AI and is a member of the U.S. White House AI research task force. She believes the concerns about AI harm are exaggerated and emphasizes its potential to improve lives and work.

Li, Andreessen Horowitz, and Radical Ventures declined to comment on the matter.

Sources: FT, The Verge, Benzinga, Techstory, Bizjournals, Business Insider, Observer, Maginative, Inshorts, Passionate Geekz, NewsBytes, Bullfrag, Quartz

This article was written in collaboration with Generative AI news company Alchemiq.

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Oyo, the Indian budget-hotel chain startup, is finalizing a fresh fundraise of around $100 million to $125 million from family offices, investors, including corporate strategy advisor Anand Jain, and others. The fundraise values Oyo at about $2.5 billion, a significant decrease from its peak valuation of $10 billion in 2019 and $9 billion in 2021.

Oyo has raised over $3 billion to date. Its largest investor, SoftBank, recently reduced the company's valuation to $2.7 billion from $3.4 billion.

Oyo is in advanced negotiations with Malaysian sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional for investment, with Ritesh Agarwal, the founder of Oyo, expected to raise the remainder of the round from India-based investors.

Incred Wealth is assisting Oyo in pitching the fundraise to high net-worth individuals, and Oyo may consider approving an initial fundraise of around Rs 500 crore.

Oyo saw a net profit of $12 million in the financial year ending March, and investors believe in potential high returns if Oyo goes public at a higher valuation.

Founder Ritesh Agarwal took a $2 billion debt to increase his stake in Oyo.

Oyo will hold an extraordinary general meeting for its shareholders to vote on the fundraise.

Sources: TechCrunch, Times of India, The Tech Portal, Ommcom News, StartupNews, Economic Times.

This article was written in collaboration with Generative AI news company Alchemiq.

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The Israeli cybersecurity industry raised a record-setting $8.8 billion in 2021, triple the amount raised the year before, the Israel National Cyber Directorate reported on Wednesday. The money was raised in more than 100 deals.

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In addition, Israel set a record for overall cyber exports and in the number of companies entering the billion-dollar "unicorn" club. According to the data, one in three cybersecurity unicorns in the world is an Israeli company.

"The Israeli cyber industry … showed that it was not only an economic growth engine in Israel of the highest order, but also a pillar of the global cybersecurity innovation ecosystem," said INCD Economy and Growth director Roi Yarom.

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The cybersecurity industry has been growing internationally and is expected to continue to climb over the next decade, reaching as high as $366.10 billion by 2028, according to a report by Fortune Business Insights.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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The fifth Tel Aviv cohort of Intel Ignite, Intel's startup growth program, kicks off on Sunday, featuring 10 startup companies that made it to the final found after a selection process that started with 220 applicants.

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This group is greatly focused on deep tech innovation impacting both industries and daily life. Each of the startups will be paired with an experienced mentor, and will receive a personalized program tailored to its specific business needs.

The Ignite program includes expert sessions on go-to market and sales, how to deal with building and growing a business, improving founders' relationships and mental health, and more.

The startups have raised an average of $5 million each to date.

"We are thrilled to welcome an outstanding group of entrepreneurs and startups to our fifth cohort," said Ranny Nachmias, Managing Director of Intel Ignite.

"This cohort has a heavy focus on deep technologies. In addition, the program will also include an exclusive CTO track which we are introducing for the first time. The track will focus on specific CTO pain points and challenges, and how to overcome them. We're looking forward to seeing how this group of startups will grow throughout the program, as well as to the discovery of the new ideas and strengthening of business relationships that will develop between the founders," Nachmias said.

The following companies made the cut:

CADY Solutions, which utilizes AI technology to perform automatic inspection and verification of electrical schematics.

ClairLabs, a platform for remote patient monitoring that features a novel contactless pulse oximetry technology.

DeepAI, whose breakthrough technology enables deep learning at a fraction of the cost and power of GPU systems for fast, secure, and scalable AI at the edge.

Echo3D, a cloud platform for 3D/AR/VR apps, games, and content.

Exodigo, which performs non-intrusive subsurface mapping.

Finout, the first self-service cloud cost observability platform that combines business metrics with cost for healthier business decision making.

Heliosphere, a production readiness platform for cloud-native and distributed applications.

HyperSpace, whose high-performance ML algorithms empower real-time predictions.

Illumex, which provides an active data catalog that helps companies use their data assets smarter and faster.

Oxeye, which performs cloud-native application security testing.

Illumex founder Inna Tokarov Sela said, "Intel Ignite is a highly endorsed program for startups, and I'm very excited to have the opportunity to take part."

"I spoke with a few recent graduates of the program, and what really stood out to me was that they all felt that there was never a wasted moment, which is so important as time is our most valuable asset. The list of mentors is outstanding and the agenda of the program covers all aspects of business and development. I personally expect to gain most from the storytelling and sales and marketing tracks. Additionally, gaining contacts within Intel will also be extremely valuable," Sela added.

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Startup accelerator 8200 EISP, established by veterans of the IDF's elite 8200 intelligence unit, is planning an event for Monday, June 21,  to celebrate its 11th anniversary and showcase the many accomplishments the company has achieved since its inception, including fundraising in excess of $1 billion.

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"The long-term investments from previous years have borne fruit in recent months, with extraordinary successes, including the exits by Zeekit and Rise.ai and notable fundraisers by TailorMed and Explorium, bringing the total fundraised amount over $1 billion," said CEO of 8200 EISP Yarden Abarbanel.

She also pointed out the latest worrisome decline in the number of new startups, which makes the accelerator's work that much more critical.

"This decrease calls for even more encouragement, mentoring and assistance to entrepreneurs who are just starting out, so that we can continue to achieve new high-tech records in the years to come and preserve the growth engine of Israel's economy and employment," she said.

The company's program this year was attended by several prominent entrepreneurs, including Ohad Bobrov and Gil Hirsch, who came to share their experience in the field.

As part of the event, entrepreneurs will present new startups operating in a variety of fields − cybertechnology, web and app development, management, medicine, artificial intelligence and more.

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Israeli startups that succeed in the US attract media attention, but more and more Israeli initiatives are active in Europe, a new report reveals.

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How active? A total of 912 Israeli startups currently operating in 28 European Union countries employ 24,223 EU residents, according to a map of Israeli startup activity in Europe compiled by the EIT Hub Israel, ISERD, and Israel's CQ Global recruiting company that was presented Wednesday evening at an event celebrating the 25^th anniversary of the establishment of business relations between the EU and Israel.

In Germany, 240 Israeli startup companies provide employment to 3,135 Germans, while in France 183 Israeli startups employ 1985 people.

The report found that 49% of all companies conduct sales and marketing activities in Europe and 15% have research and development operations there.

Over one-third of the Israeli startups in Europe come from the information and software tech sector. Others are active in the internet, telecommunications, biomedical, and clean tech spheres. The full report can be read here.

The authors of the study conducted in-depth conversations with officials at startups operating in Europe, and 37% of them said they anticipated growth this coming year. Sixteen percent 16% of the companies surveyed received assistance from the EU during establishment and expansion phases.

Yotam Tzuker, Head of Business Development at CQ Global, cited the geographical proximity between Europe and Israel, combined with the long and extensive history of political, social,

"The report stems from the lack of a comprehensive picture regarding the state of Israeli companies in Europe and their mutual contribution towards economic development, particularly in the field of employment. We hope that this data will assist startups who wish to operate in Europe, as well as investors," Tzuker said.

Adi Barel, Managing Director of EIT Hub Israel, an initiative founded in 2019 to serve as a bridge between the Israeli and EU innovation ecosystems, said, "The economic potential is inherent in the business relationship between Israeli technology companies and the European market. This report is part of a strategy to deepen ties between Israel and Europe and increase the basket of business opportunities in the fields of innovation."

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Israeli health technology startup Lumen has launched its eponymous health tracking device in the Middle East with a project to track the impact of Ramadan fasting on people's bodies, the company announced Wednesday.

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The Lumen device measures the body's carbon dioxide concentration when a user breathes into it. The levels measured indicate the type of fuel the user's body is using to produce energy – how much fat, and how much carbs. The device then provides nutritional recommendations.

As intermittent fasting becomes more common, the Lumen research team is going back to a long-established tradition of fasting. Throughout the Islamic month of Ramadan, which this year begins the evening of April 13 and lasts until May 12, the Lumen research team will analyze metabolism measurements of 2,000 people across the Middle East, Asia, North America and the UK who observe the fast, before and after the Iftar and Suhur meals, which break and start the fast, respectively.

"We are very exciting to draw insights from one of the largest fasting traditions – the holy month of Ramadan. The unique setting enables to see how these fasting windows impact our metabolism but also other interesting factors such as not consuming water throughout the day, the timing of the meals and of course the impressive month-long duration of the fasting practice," said Lumen's head of data, Barak Alon.

Currently, over 45% of Lumen users across the Middle East who fast 16 hours are able to shift their fuel source to fat burn. Lumen will publish their results when Ramadan ends to sum up the impact of fasting for all daylight hours for an entire month.

Lumen was co-founded by Israeli twins Michal and Merav Mor, both of whom hold doctorates in physiology. They now serve as head of science for product and head of research and science.

The Mor sisters came up with the idea for a personal metabolic tracker while training for an Ironman triathlon. After eight years of development and an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign, Lumen was released worldwide on March 31.

"While metabolism is key to weight loss, the only way to test metabolism was through a restrictive, hours-long laboratory process, leaving regular people with zero visibility into their metabolic rate and only haphazard ways of improving it," said Michal Mor.

"With Lumen, we are bringing scientifically rigorous insight into personal metabolism for the very first time, allowing anyone at home to measure how efficient their body is at burning calories, but also sharing research-driven recommendations on how they can reach their health and fitness goals faster," Mor added.

In a study conducted by San Francisco State University, Lumen has been validated to meet the gold standard for metabolic measurement.

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VentureIsrael announced on Wednesday the launch of a new venture capital fund, which will invest in Israel based, early-stage deep-tech start-ups. The fund's investment strategy focuses on companies with clear-cut technological advantages, an experienced management team and a flexible business strategy.

The fund's first investments are a secure quantum communications system, an AI (Artificial Intelligence) market research solution and a next-generation correspondent banking platform.

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VentureIsrael is managed by five partners – all investment experts with diverse backgrounds: Michael Harte, former COO of Santander UK and Barclays; Roman Gold, Gadi Isaev and Alexander Zarankin of JSCapital, the Israeli investment platform; and Igor Turkin of Investment Management Group.

"The Israeli innovation industry is demonstrating phenomenal growth potential even given the current turbulent economic environment," said Gold.

"In the first half of 2020, Israeli start-ups attracted a record of $5.25 billion investment capital, while the total amount of exits approached $7 billion. We also see that the demand for early-stage capital is growing faster than the amount of the funding available – therefore our aim is to find the right place in that niche of the market."

"Being a part of the Israeli start-up ecosystem and having closed a large number of successful investment deals, we have consistently observed the importance of a clear technological advantage in a company's ability to stand out from the competition. That's the reason our fund's investment strategy will focus on deep-tech companies," said Isaev.

VentureIsrael will also pay close attention to the Enterprise Software segment of Israeli early-stage start-ups.

"Worldwide, we see in increasing corporate demand for digital transformation. The Israeli market has long established itself as an influential and effective provider of innovative solutions for the corporate segment and our fund will seek out the best opportunities in that field," said Turkin.

VentureIsrael's initial closing has attracted substantial attention from private and institutional investors globally. The fund headquarters are based in Tel Aviv, with an international subsidiary in London.

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