CTech’s top 10 stories of 2024: A year in Israeli high-tech
CTech’s top 10 stories of 2024: A year in Israeli high-tech
The most-read articles this year reveal the triumphs, turmoil, and transformations shaping Israel’s tech landscape.
The year 2024 has been a rollercoaster for Israeli high-tech, marked by economic turbulence, global uncertainty, and moments of innovation and resilience. From the collapse of once-promising ventures to billion-dollar deals and debates over groundbreaking business models, the stories that captured the industry’s attention reflect the challenges and opportunities shaping its future. As we look back, these are the top 10 most popular stories on CTech that defined the past year—a snapshot of the trends, controversies, and pivotal moments in Israeli tech and beyond.
Calcalist reveals the mechanism behind Cyberstarts’ amazing returns: points worth tens of thousands of dollars are awarded to CISOs of organizations for deepening relationships with the fund's portfolio companies, aiding their growth. Is this model, which is increasingly questioned, one of the explanations for the fund's extraordinary success? Ra'anan said in response: "No CISO received compensation for purchasing products."
"We will continue to invest in Israel, and support the employees fully, regardless of their background," added Huang during a Q&A session at Nvidia’s GTC conference this week.
Economic slowdown, judicial overhaul, fleeing investors, October 7, and a war. By any measure, the past year was the most difficult in the history of local high-tech, making this year's 50 most promising startups the epitome of excellence.
Three years have passed since the IPO of genetic testing company 23andMe and it has faced a nosedive in profits due to public mistrust, a one-time use product, ethical concerns about user data, and security breaches.
The Israeli startup, founded in 2018, has developed an orchestration and virtualization software layer tailored to the unique needs of AI workloads running on GPUs and similar chipsets. The value of the deal is estimated at many hundreds of millions of dollars and could even reach $1 billion.
Following months of delay, Intel workers in Israel have days to decide whether to take a layoff package or appeal their terminations.
Intel Israel employees face empty kitchen stations as company cost-cutting intensifies ahead of layoff notices.
The innovation arm of technology giant Samsung has invested in 70 Israeli companies to date. “Although our physical presence in Israel will cease, we remain committed to investing in the region and encouraging referrals from builders and founders,” Samsung Next’s Tel Aviv office wrote in an email.
Karin Eibschitz Segal, VP at Intel, added that “Intel's uniqueness in AI is that it is one of the only companies in the world that has a full portfolio—meaning the ability to develop end-to-end solutions."
Dissatisfied high-tech employees could once easily move to another company, usually with a higher salary and perks. But today’s poor job market means that most ‘quietly quit’ instead.
