Oracle selects 5 Israeli start-ups for accelerator program

AUGUST 9, 2017 18:29

Updated: AUGUST 9, 2017 23:27

Oracle's five Israeli Startups selected for its Startup Program in Tel Aviv. (photo credit: EZRA LEVY) — Oracle's five Israeli Startups selected for its Startup Program in Tel Aviv.

(photo credit: EZRA LEVY)

“The Israeli start-up ecosystem is one of the most mature and advanced ecosystems when it comes to building cutting edge technology.”

Aiming to advance Oracle’s next-generation cloud capabilities, the California-based corporation has selected five Israeli companies to participate in its inaugural Start-up Cloud Accelerator Program in Tel Aviv.

The start-ups, which include experts in fields such as predictive maintenance and cloud native networking, will be joining a six-month program facilitated by technical and business experts from Oracle and the industry. Oracle will be hosting the companies in a co-working space, where they will have access to Oracle customers, partners and investors, as well as free Oracle Cloud credits, to test and develop their technologies across a wide user base.

“We were thrilled with the initial response from the local start-up community – all tremendously tenacious and all addressing big global opportunities,” said Reggie Bradford, senior vice president of Oracle’s Start-up Ecosystem and Accelerator.

“Already we have seen progress by bringing together collaborators from start-ups, customers and Oracle product development. I look forward to continuing these efforts with the vibrant group of start-ups in Tel Aviv.”

By advancing such programs, the corporation hopes to find budding entrepreneurs in Israel who could help make Oracle the leading cloud company in the world. Cloud computing is the practice of using a network of remote Internet servers, rather than physical infrastructure, to store and process data.

The accelerator in Tel Aviv, launched in January, became the second of its kind for Oracle, with the first inaugurated in Bangalore, India, last year. Since January, Oracle has announced similar programs in Bristol, Delhi- Northern Capital Region, Paris, São Paulo and Singapore.

“The Israeli start-up ecosystem is one of the most mature and advanced ecosystems when it comes to building cutting edge technology,” said Noam Inbar, Tel Aviv head of Start-up Ecosystem. “Oracle’s resources and global customer base will play a role in scaling these startups in the enterprise space and bridge the physical gap between the Israeli entrepreneurs and their target market.”

In the Tel Aviv-based program, five Israeli start-ups will be chosen in cohorts twice a year, for six-month immersion programs, Oracle executives told journalists at the initial January launch. Although the requirements are not sector- or stage-specific, the participating companies must be making an impact and addressing a targetable market, with a defined yet flexible road map, according to the program’s leaders. In addition, the founding team must have been working together for at least six months, they explained.

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The first of the five start-ups selected is 3DSignals, which has created a predictive maintenance solution that leverages deep learning to analyze the sounds emanating from machines and alerts users when these devices are about to malfunction.

The 3DSignals platform collects sounds and data from industrial equipment, identifies anomalies, classifies patterns of equipment failure and predicts issues before they have the chance to interrupt work.

The second company to join the accelerator will be Nsof Networks, which delivers global networking infrastructure that enables information technology organizations to operate their networks with cost efficiency, security and simplicity.

The third firm is Bonobo.ai, an artificial intelligence platform that captures and analyzes all textual and conversational data generated by organizations, producing real-time actionable insights.

Also joining the group will be Toonimo, a smart audio-visual guidance platform, which works to simplify complex online services and processes.

Toonimo’s solution focuses on helping companies reduce their customer support costs, accelerate employee training and increase customer satisfaction through personalized tools that incorporate human voice and other advanced features.

A fifth start-up taking part in the accelerator will be Zoomin, a software as a service (SaaS) company that aims to change the way customers interact with product documentation. The company focuses on helping large corporations provide their customers answers to product- related questions by means of artificial intelligence technology.

“This is an ideal time in our business growth to be selected for Oracle’s program,” said Gal Oron, Zoomin co-founder and CEO. “Oracle’s global resources and expertise, as well as its global partner and customer ecosystem, will be a catalyst for us as we continue to digitize and disrupt our space.”