Safe bet: Leveraging AI 

The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in casinos is reshaping the gaming industry, streamlining operations, and elevating player experiences. OPTX, for example, leverages AI to monitor gambling behaviors, providing actionable insights that assist casinos in optimizing player engagement and operational efficiency. Gaming Analytics uses AI for deep analysis of player data, enabling casinos to fine-tune their operations and create personalized gaming experiences. These companies serve as examples of AI’s diverse applications in the casino sector, from data analysis and customer support to fraud detection and game customization. These advancements are pivotal in evolving casino operations, significantly enhancing the overall gaming environment.

Shaking Up the Casino Floor with Robotic Bartenders

The allure of robotic bartenders in casinos extends far beyond their novelty; it’s their efficiency and precision in crafting drinks that truly stand out. Brands like Cecilia.ai are pioneering in this space with robotic (and interactive) bartending systems that not only mix cocktails quickly but do so with consistent quality. These systems, capable of crafting a wide range of drinks from classic cocktails to custom creations, offer guests a 24/7 engaging experience that marries taste with cutting-edge AI. The introduction of such automated systems into the casino environment also infuses the casino bar with a sense of modernity and innovation, appealing to guests who seek unique and futuristic experiences. The presence of robotic bartenders like Cecilia.ai demonstrates how technology can enhance traditional aspects of the casino experience, making every visit memorable and ensuring that guests keep coming back for more.

Delivery Robots: Bringing Convenience to the Gaming Floor

Following the innovative trend of robotic bartenders, casinos are not stopping there; they’re bringing the convenience one step closer to the guests. With the introduction of delivery robots like Techmetics Robotics, and Pudu Robotics’ BellaBot, casinos ensure that guests no longer need to leave their gaming spots for refreshments, and instead have the refreshments come to them. These robots efficiently navigate the bustling casino floor, delivering drinks, snacks, and even cards or chips right to the players. This service revolution enhances guest satisfaction by blending advanced technology with the personal touch of uninterrupted service, making every casino visit exceptionally convenient and enjoyable.

Contactless & Self-Service Solutions

In an era where convenience and safety are paramount, contactless and self-service kiosks have become essential features in casinos. Companies like NRT Tech and OLEA are offering self-service solutions that streamline transactions and reduce waiting times. These kiosks enable guests to place bets, redeem tickets, and access information without direct human interaction, catering to the digital-first preferences of today’s consumers. Additionally, these systems facilitate sports wagers, allowing guests to place and manage their bets conveniently. They also integrate seamlessly with casino loyalty programs, offering players a streamlined way to access their rewards and benefits, enhancing their overall experience and encouraging repeat visits.

Looking for a change? Go Cashless

The casino industry’s shift towards cashless transactions is being accelerated by companies like FABICash and Acres Manufacturing, bringing unique innovations to the forefront. FABICash offers secure cashless solutions that simplify financial transactions for players and operators, enhancing the overall gaming experience with its user-friendly systems. Acres Manufacturing, on the other hand, introduces cutting-edge technologies that facilitate digital payments, streamlining operations and aligning with the digital economy’s trends. Together, these companies are pivotal in transforming casinos into more efficient, modern gaming environments.

Interactive Casino Tables

Interactive casino tables have made it to the list of tech trends shaping casinos by combining the thrill of traditional play with the advantages of digital technology. Jackpot Digital develops dealerless electronic poker and table games, enabling a dealer-free environment that’s both efficient, engaging, and available 24/7. Similarly, Interblock, the world’s leading developer and supplier of luxury Electronic Table Gaming, specializes in providing a wide array of electronic table games, such as the Smart Pit, which seamlessly blends advanced technology with traditional table games. These innovations signify a shift towards more dynamic and accessible casino experiences.

Cross Platform Casinos

The seamless integration of mobile gaming with physical casino experiences represents a significant trend. Mobile apps allow guests to manage accounts, book reservations, and even play games from anywhere, ensuring a consistent and engaging experience across digital and physical spaces. Companies like Light & Wonder (LNW) are leading the way in enhancing the gaming experience. LNW focuses on integrating gaming experiences across platforms, ensuring a consistent and engaging journey for gamblers, whether they’re playing from home or on the casino floor.

Smooth Operator: Casino Management Systems (CMS)

Casino Management Systems (CMS) are pivotal for modern casino operations, significantly enhancing efficiency beyond traditional systems. Platforms like those from Agilysys and CasinoTrac offer various features to optimize the gaming environment and operational security. With functionalities such as detailed player tracking, asset management, and real-time data analytics, these CMS platforms enable casinos to provide a tailored and secure gaming experience. They help in fine-tuning various operational aspects, including game floor organization and the execution of customer loyalty schemes, to ensure top-notch service that meets every guest’s needs.

In wrapping up, the tech trends shaping casinos aren’t just game-changers—they’re reshuffling the deck for a more engaging, streamlined, and secure player experience. As the industry bets big on innovation, these technological advancements ensure that the house keeps on winning.

If you’re interested in seeing these innovations firsthand, many companies featured in this article, along with a broad array of others, are set to exhibit at the Indian Gaming Tradeshow & Convention, taking place from April 8-11, 2024, in Anaheim, California.

The post Gaming Reimagined: Eight Tech Trends Shaping Casinos appeared first on GKI Group.

Interactive Touchscreen Displays

Static displays are a thing of the past. Today’s attendees crave interaction and engagement. By integrating touchscreen displays, floors, or tables, companies can offer dynamic presentations, interactive product demos, or even gamified brand experiences. Taggbox Social Wall provides complete solutions to create and display social media walls (aggregated from more than 15 platforms) on every screen for anyone to see what people are Tweeting or posting about your event.

AI Robotic Bartender

Whether you are looking for refreshments or just want to offer your attendees an innovative and unique experience, robotic bartenders might be the answer. Cecilia.ai, for example, is an interactive, robotic bartender, perfect for these types of events. “She” can handle mass traffic by mixing 120 cocktails an hour while interacting with the crowd to make them laugh or talk about your company or event’s agenda. Cecilia isn’t just about serving drinks; she’s about crafting experiences. With Cecilia.ai, events can offer a unique blend of tech and hospitality, ensuring attendees have stories to share and memories to cherish.

Hybrid Live Translation and Transcribing

Breaking language barriers is crucial in our globalized world. With live translation from companies like Wordly, events can cater to a diverse audience, ensuring inclusivity. This technology provides live AI translation into audio and captions, making sessions accessible to all, in the event or live viewers attending from home, regardless of language. The result? It’s a truly global event that everyone can be a part of.

Augmented Reality (AR) Experiences

Mentioning AR (or VR) when it comes to event technology trends may seem corny in 2024, but it’s still a thing, and the audience digs it and always must “try it out.” AR offers a bridge between the digital and physical realms. Companies like Onirix develop tailor-made AR solutions so attendees can interact with digital overlays, explore products in 3D, view a map of the venue, or even participate in AR-driven games. This immersive technology ensures that the brand’s message is not only seen, but also experienced.

Coffee with a Twist

Forget about the boring drinks. The startup Ripples has transformed the drinking experience by turning each cup (or, more accurately, the top of it) into a work of art. Whether it’s a brand logo, a personalized message, a social media hashtag, or intricate designs, every sip becomes a conversation starter. Grab people’s attention when they grab a cup of coffee or a cocktail, and turn every customer into an influencer with share-worthy drink prints!

Virtual Swag Bag

Handing out virtual swag bags is a trend that started post-COVID outbreak, where conferences went online or hybrid, but it’s useful these days as well. Digital goodies offer a sustainable and innovative alternative to traditional giveaways that you must carry all day. Attendees can check the event agenda on their phones, expand their knowledge with eBooks, enter a competition, or choose from a curated range of digital offerings such as food delivery or Amazon coupons.

Wearable Tech and Smart Badges

More than just an ID, smart badges are about enhancing the attendee journey and turning conferences into captivating experiences. One example is Klik SmartBadges by Bizzabo. These badges enable easy entrance to the event or specific rooms and swapping details seamlessly with other attendees instead of exchanging business cards. Moreover, these badges are known for their flashing lights, coloring each SmartBadge with a different color to divide into groups, or launching custom light cues during a keynote, bringing a concert vibe to your corporate event.

Portable Podcast Studio

Everyone has a podcast nowadays, and probably your company has one, but what about your event? Live content creation adds a dynamic layer to events. With a portable podcast studio, brands can engage attendees through live interviews, discussions, or sessions. It’s about capturing the event’s pulse, amplifying it to a broader audience, and giving your attendees a chance to speak their minds!

The future of events lies in the harmonious blend of technology and human touch. Companies and event organizers can create experiences that resonate on many levels by integrating these event technology trends, ensuring attendees leave with more than just memories but a deeper connection to the company as well. The companies that embrace innovation will stand out in the evolving events landscape in 2024 and beyond.

The post 8 Event Technology Trends to Make Your Event Stand Out in 2024 appeared first on GKI Group.

Smart and Energy-Efficient Hotels: The Ultimate Personalized Experience

Smart hotels have become an increasingly popular concept in recent years, offering guests unprecedented personalization and convenience. By incorporating IoT (Internet of Things) solutions, AI, and energy management systems (EMS), smart hotels can adapt to the needs and preferences of each guest, providing a truly bespoke experience. Guests can control room temperature, lighting, and entertainment systems through their smartphones or voice commands. At the same time, hotel staff can access real-time data on guest preferences, enabling them to tailor services and recommendations accordingly. 

Adding to this, the integration of EMS allows hotels to optimize energy use in real-time based on guests’ preferences and room occupancy, contributing to sustainability and enhancing the guest experience. Moreover, It shows a commitment to environmental sustainability, appealing to eco-conscious travelers. 

Interactive Robotic Bartenders: A Mix of Entertainment and Efficiency

Integrating robotics into the hospitality industry has opened up exciting new possibilities, particularly in the realm of food and beverage. One such innovation is Cecilia.ai, the world’s first interactive robotic bartender – a cutting-edge solution that combines efficiency, consistency, and entertainment to elevate the bar experience 24 hours a day, 7 days a week – so no customer will ever remain thirsty or unsatisfied in the middle of the night. 

With Cecilia, guests can enjoy a dazzling display of technological prowess as she automatically crafts cocktails, tells jokes, and acts as a virtual concierge. Integrating with the hotel’s data and PMS, Cecilia can remember guest preferences, ensuring that each drink is tailored to the individual’s taste. This customization level increases customer satisfaction and sets a new standard for consistency in the industry.

RFID Wristbands: The End of Carrying Things

RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) bracelets can significantly enhance a hotel guest’s experience by offering a level of convenience that transcends typical hospitality standards. Waterproof and comfortable, these bracelets can be worn at all times, providing seamless, keyless access to guest rooms and hotel amenities, such as the pool or spa, without worrying about carrying or losing traditional key cards. 

Moreover, these RFID bracelets can be linked to a guest’s credit card, enabling cashless transactions across the hotel for services such as dining, spa treatments, or buying drinks (preferably from a robotic bartender), eliminating the need for guests to carry a wallet or phone. Integrated with a hotel’s CRM system, this technology lets the staff personalize guest experiences by tailoring room and food preferences and suggesting activities based on past stays.

Robots at Reception: Streamlining Guest Services

Implementing robots and self-service kiosks in hotel receptions is another innovative step toward streamlining guest services and enhancing the overall experience. These robotic receptionists can perform various tasks, such as checking guests in and out, providing directions, and offering information about the hotel’s amenities and local attractions. Equipped with AI and natural language processing capabilities, these robots can communicate with guests in multiple languages, ensuring a smooth and welcoming experience for travelers from all around the world.

Using robots at reception reduces waiting times, increases efficiency, and frees up human staff to focus on more complex tasks and personalized guest interactions. Furthermore, these robotic receptionists can operate 24/7, guaranteeing that guests receive assistance whenever required, contributing to a seamless and enjoyable stay.

Biometric Authentication: Enhancing Security and Personalization

Biometric authentication is gaining traction in the hospitality industry, offering increased security and a smoother guest experience. By utilizing unique biological characteristics such as fingerprints, facial recognition, or voice patterns, hotels can verify the identity of their guests with greater accuracy. This technology allows for seamless check-ins, reducing wait times and enabling a more convenient experience for guests. Biometric authentication allows hotels to provide enhanced security measures, protecting both guests and their belongings. By granting access to rooms and facilities based on individual biometrics, hotels can minimize the risk of unauthorized entry, ensuring a safer environment. 

In conclusion, technology’s integration into the hospitality industry is not just a fleeting trend but a transformative force, redefining customer experiences and expectations. From AI-powered smart hotels to interactive robotic bartenders, these advancements are creating a new landscape of convenience, personalization, and security. As we move forward, embracing these innovations will be vital for businesses seeking to stay competitive and ensure customer satisfaction and loyalty. The future of hospitality is bright and technologically advanced, promising an elevated experience for all guests and making each interaction uniquely memorable.

The post The Future of Hospitality: Using Technology To Elevate the Customer Experience to New Heights appeared first on GKI Group.

As technology advances, more and more hotels, resorts, and other hospitality businesses are starting to discover the benefits of “opening their doors” to innovations and trends. Incorporating new solutions in your hotel can enhance the guests’ journey and experience, reduce operational costs, and as a result- drive revenue growth. To help you get started, we’ve gathered the list of the hottest hospitality tech trends for 2023.

Let your guests communicate with a virtual concierge

One of the best ways to improve the guests’ experience, before the check-in and even after the check-out, is by using chatbots and guest relationship management platforms. 

Companies like HiJiffy or EasyWay enable hotels to provide their guests with a contactless, AI-powered virtual concierge service throughout the entire journey. These chatbots can handle the check-in process, answer the guests’ questions and requirements, upsell by offering a spa, room upgrades, and other services, and even remind guests to rate their stay afterward.

The guests can easily chat with the concierge via WhatsApp, an online web-based chat, or a tablet in their room. After being implemented in many hotels and hostels, these solutions were proven effective for guest satisfaction, data collection, and sales optimization.

Hire Robots to Strengthen Your Staff

As hotels, among other businesses, face a growing shortage of employees, using robots and automation will be one of this year’s biggest hospitality tech trends. But robots also have other benefits, as they may be used for streamlining dining operations, entertaining guests, or performing simple repetitive tasks. There’s a robotic solution for almost every aspect of hospitality. Richtech Robotics, for example, developed the Matradee L, a self-driving robot server capable of serving food and drinks and bussing tables, and Richie, a cute delivery robot that can be put in charge of the room service. 

Another robot that might bring innovation (and sustainability- check out number 6) to your kitchen is SavorEat’s robotic chef, capable of 3D printing customizable meatless burgers (and, in the future, steaks and kebabs) in minutes. 

But what about the guest experience?

Robots have one more advantage over humans – they’re awesome (and look good on Instagram). Every business “hiring” robots to greet and assist guests will be immediately perceived as more innovative and cutting-edge. That’s where robots like the famous humanoid Pepper or the KettyBot (an AI-powered delivery and reception robot) come in. 

Another innovative voice interaction solution for improving efficiency and guest satisfaction is using a robotic interactive bartender such as Cecilia.ai. Not only that Cecilia can work 24/7 in making cocktails and talking to the hotel guests, but she can also answer questions and provide information. A virtual concierge with a welcome drink.

Create Hotel Experiences in the Metaverse

Ah, Metaverse, the buzzword of 2022. While it didn’t become as popular as Mark Zuckerberg hoped, the Metaverse will probably get involved in our lives, one way or another, in 2023.

The Metaverse offers hotels and resorts the opportunity to introduce their facilities to guests (or potential guests) or even attend a conference, in an original, innovative way, from the comfort of their own homes.

Every person with a VR headset could visit an exact 3D replica of the hotel (minus the annoying children at the pool) and tour the facilities before making a decision and booking a room at the virtual reception. We believe this trend will rise in 2023 as we see more and more chains opening their first hotel in Metaverse. Hotel Terme Venezia and others are offering clients to purchase NFTs (another buzzword from 2022), and AURA Skypool Lounge in Dubai, the world’s highest 360° infinity pool, will open for Metaverse guests this month.

Don’t worry; your real hotels are here to stay. The Metaverse is just a new way of marketing and giving your guests a different, cutting-edge experience. 

Let an autonomous vehicle drive your guests around

We thought that by 2023 we’d see autonomous vehicles roaming the streets, but that has yet to happen. However, low-speed autonomous vehicles already operate in closed areas such as campuses, airports, and industrial areas. Other businesses that can benefit from self-driving cars are resorts. Navya developed the Autonom® Shuttle, a self-driven electric bus with 15 seats that can drive your resort guests to their distant rooms. If you’re looking for a smaller solution, Israeli startup Carteav is working on autonomous golf carts with four seats designed for on-site transportation.

Using self-driving cars in your hotel or resort saves drivers’ costs, is available 24/7, is safer than human-operated vehicles, and is super cool and innovative. 

Make Some Space for Digital Nomads

A hospitality trend that has increased in recent years- mainly thanks to the pandemic, which made it more common to work remotely- is called Bleisure. This word is made from combining Business and Leisure. Many digital nomads, whether they are freelancers without an office or tech employees who don’t need to work from their office, are seeking hospitality solutions that will enable them to combine business… and leisure. These solutions involve creating a co-working space with hot desks, fast (and stable) internet connection, meeting rooms, and some wellness activities to make the most of it.

Hostel chain Selina was built and designed to give space to digital nomads, but these days many hotel chains such as Marriott and Hyatt are starting to embrace the idea of Bleisure and build suitable facilities to make that happen.  

Go Green! 

Sustainability is THE trend your hospitality business should focus on in 2023 because it’s more than just a passing trend. Sure, putting an emphasis on sustainability looks good in PR, but just “greenwashing” isn’t enough, as most travelers prefer staying in an eco-friendly hotel. You have to make a fundamental change in your business and put a real effort into reducing waste and your carbon footprint. 

Common solutions are going paperless, building parking with charging stations for electric vehicles, ditching the little plastic shampoo bottles, using energy-efficient electric appliances and lighting, and more.

Besides the ideas above, there are newer ways to bring your business to the next level of sustainability. Winnow Solutions is a food waste management solution that helps hotel chains save money and the environment. SensorFlow is a smart hotel allocation system that optimizes the needed number of running compressors and saves energy.

The hospitality industry will change in 2023 and in the years that follow, and your business shouldn’t be left out. Start incorporating these hospitality tech trends and innovative solutions into your hotel or resort, and you’ll quickly see how it affects your business’s public image, customer satisfaction, operational costs, and revenues. 

The post From Robots to the Metaverse: 6 Hospitality Tech Trends For 2023 appeared first on GKI Group.

That’s not a bad number. In fact, a few years ago, it would have been considered a success, but in comparison to the billions raised and the birth of new Unicorns over the past few months, the difference is quite noticeable.  

Yet, we’re still happy to see companies that make it through the crisis with decent (and some might say reasonable) investment rounds. Here are some of them:

We’re used to seeing nine-digit investment rounds on the top of the list, but this time we’ll have to settle for “just” $64 million, which rightfully goes directly to one of our favorite startups – AI21 Labs, the creators of the life-saving (for content writers) Wordtune, and various of NLP tools for developers. Keep it going!

Just one million below, with $63 million, we have another startup that starts with A and ends with Labs: we’re talking about the vehicle software intelligence developer Aurora Labs. The startup’s technology enables automotive companies or silicon vendors to collect data from vehicles, understand the software and line-of-code, diagnose problems, and overall streamline the development process.  

July’s startup list is not so long, yet four companies with “Robotics” in their title are mentioned. At least one of them is building an actual robot.

ForSight Robotics, with $55 million, has developed ORYOM – the first hybrid intraocular robotic ophthalmic platform for performing safer eye surgeries. 

Diagnostic Robotics, Dr. Kira Radinsky’s new baby has raised $45 million for a powerful AI-based diagnostic system that helps healthcare providers save costs and improve with predictive analysis. 

Unlimited Robotics, which raised $8 million, is developing a multi-functional service robot called Gary that can perform any task you’d need at home or work. 

Wonder Robotics raised $4 million for the development of WonderLand, a solution that allows vertical take-off and landing drones to land safely and autonomously.  

Also worth mentioning are three gaming companies that have raised some funds this month with the help of investors, not loot boxes.

Edge Gaming is an interesting startup that turns gameplay moments into “playables.” Players can capture their gameplay and instantly turn it into a playable mini-game that can be shared and played by others. Edge Gaming raised $30 million this month. Nice play. 

UnCaged Studios, with $24 million, is pioneering the next generation of AAA, Play-First Web3 gaming, and has developed a game called Monkey League. It combines soccer, chess… and NFT. Is that the future of gaming? We’ll have to wait and see.

With $7 million, we have Gigantic- a gaming startup that we’ve mentioned in the past- for the development of Clawee, an app that enables players to operate an actual claw machine remotely and win the prize they just picked up. Well, if they managed to pick it up; you know how claw machines work.

As usual, here’s this month’s complete list of investment rounds and grants:

While one slow down doesn’t necessarily mean trouble, along with the Israeli and worldwide cutoffs, it certainly looks like the market will take some time to recover. We’ll have to wait and see what the next couple of months bring. 

The post Only less than $700 million in July 2022 [Infographic] appeared first on GKI Group.

In May, two new Unicorns were born: public transportation optimization startup Optibus and Banking-as-a-Service fintech startup Unit. Both surpassed the $1 billion valuations.
“Older” Unicorns grew bigger as well: Deel raised $50 million and doubled its valuation to $12 billion, and blockchain company StarkWare raised another $50 million that brought it to a valuation of $8 billion! 

The biggest round of investment this month goes to Israeli-American cybersecurity company Semperis, which raised $200 million to help enterprises recover quickly from attacks and data breaches. Next, with $120 million, we have Pyramid Analytics, for delivering data-driven business intelligence faster than ever before by providing access to any data.
Another surprising company at the high end of the list is Masterschool, which raised a $100 million seed funding round (!) to “build the largest network of career schools in the world”. 

The rest of the startups and numbers are in this infographic, as usual:

The post Crisis? What Crisis? Israeli startups grabbed more than $1.6 billion in May 2022 [Infographic] appeared first on GKI Group.

This February, 50 Israeli startups raised over $1.47 billion and three new Unicorns joined the club, which is still impressive but looks rather pale compared to previous months in 2021, surpassing the $2 and $3 billion mark. 

The first startup on our list, which happens to be one of the unicorns mentioned earlier, is the cybersecurity company for marketers, CHEQ. The startup, which announced its $150 million Series C funding, develops a Go-to-Market security platform that protects your data, analytics, and paid advertising campaigns from bots, fraudsters, and invalid users. 

The next Unicorn is Salt Security, infamous for one company event, but famous for their API security solution, which brought them a $140 million investment and a $1.4 billion valuation.
Using API Context Engine (ACE) Architecture, Salt Security can discover all your APIs, stop every API attack, and eliminate API vulnerabilities in development. Bonus: Count how many times the term API appears in this paragraph.

Dreaming about your next vacation? Meet Island, a new… oh, wait, we were told that Island is actually the (brilliant) name of a cybersecurity company, developing a browser for enterprises. Instead of reading this article at work in Chrome or Firefox as you’re probably doing right now, Island allows enterprises to create their own safe, private Chromium-based browser, which they can control and monitor. Island emerged from stealth, and announced almost $100 million in financing. 

The story of Cloudinary is out of the ordinary. Founded in 2012, Cloudinary announced its first round of investment in ten years, a $100 million secondary deal that brought the company up to a $2 billion valuation. From bootstrap to Unicorn. Cloudinary provides a solution for media optimization, which allows their customers to easily upload, edit, and publish images and videos on any device. 

Another video solution that raised $100 million this month tackles the need for content creation from another angle. WSC Sports automatically (or, automagically, as they claim) creates highlight videos for the satisfaction of every fan, and help sports organizations improve their engagement and monetization. 

Okay, let’s move over to companies that raised less than a 9-digit number, but still develop incredible, promising products. 

Gauzy is the world leader in smart glass technologies. Yes, that’s a thing. With the help of LCG® (light control glass) technologies, transparent materials can change from controlled levels of opaque to transparent on demand – for privacy matters, custom shading, energy control, and transparent displays. Earlier in February, Gauzy acquired French company Vision Systems and raised $60 million. 

Take a closer look at this one. Closer… Closer… Zoom in… Okay, now stop. Meet Scopio Labs, developers of a digital microscope that revolutionizes cell morphology and enables researchers and scientists to see things in a way that was never possible before. The company raised a $50 million C Round this month and reached a total of $84 million to date.  

Diamonds are a girl’s best friend, but what about lab-grown diamonds? Better ask Lusix that question. Founded by visionary entrepreneur and prolific inventor Benny Landa, Lusix’s diamonds are “fusing the beauty of nature with the power of science”. After perfecting the most scientifically advanced technology for growing the diamonds over the past 8 years, Lusix has now raised $45 million to help the company’s growth. And its diamonds.

Subsurface Mapping Platform Exodigo raised $29 million to help construction, mining, and utility companies discover what lies beneath the surface. The startup’s revolutionary non-intrusive subsurface imaging platform can detect buried objects such as gas pipelines, water sources, cables, minerals, and other natural or man-made obstacles that may hazard or delay construction projects. Looks like they’ve found a hidden treasure.  

Imagine turning on the TV in your hotel room in France, and your favorite movie starring Brad Pitt is on. He speaks in French, but unlike dubbing, this time he speaks French with his own voice. Meet Deepdub, a new startup aiming to “provide high-quality seamless localization of entertainment content using deep learning and AI algorithms”, which simply means automating the dubbing process, in every language, using the actor’s or actress’s voice. Another thing that sounds great in every language is the fact that Deepdub raised $20 million this month. 

If you’ve spent some time on the Israeli LinkedIn feed, there’s no way you could have missed the 22-year-old entrepreneur May Piamenta with her big smile, inspirational personality, and the refreshing energy she brings into her own startup, Vee. Vee is a volunteering platform that helps organizations and enterprises manage their employees’ volunteering opportunities and give back to the community. A whole platform built for doing good? We’re totally in, and so are the investors who gave the company $12 million funding.

Vanilla is the world’s most popular scent and taste, but, surprising or not, most of the vanilla you’ve ever tasted was synthetic. Natural vanilla is super-expensive and suffers from an irregular supply chain, but now, an Israeli Foodtech startup is trying to change that. Vanilla Vida is developing a new method for growing vanilla crops faster despite the weather, climate change, and other variables that affect its scarcity. Vanilla Vida currently focuses on the spice that gave the company its name. They raised $11.5 million to advance with development and, hopefully, to apply the same technology for different crops in the future.      

That’s it for now.

Also, spoiler alert, March already kicked off with a HUGE investment before we finished writing this article, so forget about the first paragraph – the Israeli ecosystem still lives.

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Cecilia.ai is a robotic bartender that features an interactive 3D avatar of a barmaid named Cecilia, activated using advanced voice recognition and artificial intelligence technologies.
She can participate in a two-way conversation, tell jokes, walk the customers through the menu, recommend drinks, and of course- make cocktails automatically and completely contactless.
The bartender can mix and shake 120 cocktails per hour, from a predefined custom menu, and is built to assist businesses and event organizers to create new means of income, be an attraction for new and returning customers, and combat the ever-growing shortage of workers- especially during the pandemic.

“We decided to invest in Cecilia’s development after we saw its advanced abilities and the rising need in the world for robotic solutions, especially in the hospitality, tourism, and entertainment sectors,” says Lital Kalkshtein. She is the CEO of GKI Group, the parent company of Cecilia.ai, and more technology products. “After the robots’ success in its previous version, which was used mainly as an attraction for daily events, we decided to rebuild Cecilia to fit for businesses and added some necessary features such as data collection, payment solutions, and an ID reader to verify the users’ age.” 

Bacardi is one the largest privately-held spirits companies in the world and owns over 200 brands such as Martini, Tequila Patron, Whisky Dewar’s, Bombay Sapphire, and, of course, their eponymous Bacardi rum.
As part of its operations in the US, Bacardi partnered up with FIU’s Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management– a Top 10 US public hospitality school- to open the Bacardi Center of Excellence: a unique educational partnership focused mainly on innovation and entrepreneurship. Bacardi Center of Excellence at FIU teamed up with Cecilia.ai to blend its robotic bartender as a part of the curriculum for enriching the students in the fields of hospitality innovation, alternate solutions, and combining mixology with technology.

“We officially launched Cecilia.ai in the U.S. last November during our first business trip to Miami and Las Vegas, and the fact that we’ve already signed a partnership with an important client in the hospitality industry such as Bacardi Center of Excellence at FIU shows the belief in and the need for our kind of product.” Says Elad Kobi, CEO of Cecilia.ai, “It’s our first strategic customer in the United States; we’re extremely excited about the upcoming debut. It’s a significant foothold for Cecilia.ai in the American market, and we’re thrilled about what’s expected for us later this year”.

To celebrate the official launch and draw more interest to the school’s program, Cecilia.ai will be making cocktails at the upcoming Food Network & Cooking Channel South Beach Wine & Food Festival presented by Capital One (SOBEWFF®), that’ll take place February 24-27, 2022. During the festival, over 1,200 students and one robotic bartender will cooperate with culinary and industry experts to demonstrate their knowledge and skills. Bacardi Center of Excellence at FIU sees this as a great opportunity to reveal Cecilia and use her to introduce the guests to the program and the innovation that the school is aiming for.

About Cecilia.ai
Cecilia.ai is the world’s first interactive robotic bartender, customized for every business and event. Powered by conversational AI and voice recognition abilities, Cecilia is not your typical bartender. She makes delicious cocktails crafted by acclaimed mixologists, chats with customers, tells jokes, promotes your brand, and provides an unforgettable experience to new and returning visitors. Cecilia grants businesses valuable customer data, a unique groundbreaking attraction for visitors, and a new way to advertise and stand out.

About FIU’s Bacardi Center of Excellence
The Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management at Florida International University (FIU), a Top 10 US public hospitality school, is home to the Bacardi Center of Excellence, a dynamic educational partnership focused on developing learners of beverage management, fine spirits, industry innovation, sustainability, and entrepreneurship. The Bacardi Center of Excellence brings academia and industry together in a pioneering partnership experience at the Chaplin School.

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This year’s CES was supposed to mark the return to some sanity and the ability to hold large events again, but just when we thought the pandemic was behind us, the Omicron began to raise its head. As a result, several large companies have decided to exhibit their newest products online during this hybrid version of CES. And while this year’s attendance was a bit low, you could still see some crowds- specifically at the Venetian Expo, standing in long lines to see a robotic bartender that was serving free cocktails to anyone who asked for it. 

We’re talking about our Cecilia.ai, of course, who had managed to stun an audience that thought they’ve already seen it all- with its conversational AI and mixing abilities, and a unique menu, design, and witty script created for CES. The cocktails created for the event were the whisky-based Metaverse and the Ale-on-Cask, a pun that pays homage to TIME magazine’s Person of the Year. The other cocktails were a gin and tonic called Tech-Tonic and a vodka mixed with cranberry juice, simply called Cranberry Pi.
Now, that’s a giveaway the attendees will never forget (unless they drank about 5 of these).

Cecilia.ai, as we mentioned previously, took part at CES as a member of the Israeli startup pavilion, organized by the Israel Export Institute alongside companies such as Bzigo, Silentium, Biobeat, and others. Its robotic bartending abilities were even used for the Happy Hour held at the pavilion on the second day, and drew in many visitors, as planned. 

Not that it took us by surprise, but it was thrilling to see how excellently Cecilia.ai handled the pressure at a massive event like this, and how smoothly it all went. According to our data dashboard (which you could see updated in real-time on a screen next to Cecilia), she made about 600 cocktails these 3 days, with an average of 1 minute per session which includes ID scanning, chatting, and making a drink.

In the little free time we had to wander around the 2,000 booths at the conference, we were awed by the craziest of innovations. Like Ameca- a humanoid with facial expressions and nearly-human chatting abilities, a changing-color car by BMW, a bodysuit for the Metaverse, and even a creepy child-humanoid called Pedia_Roid that simulates health emergencies or a visit to the dentist, just to name a few.
It’s an enriching and enticing experience seeing all the latest developments all in one place, as well as trying to guess which technologies would last, which just looked impressive on CES, and which will change our lives in the near future.

Before we wrap up, we’d like to thank the Israel Export Institute, its partners, and all the rest of the people who worked days and nights to help us bring Cecilia.ai to CES 2022. We never would’ve made it without your support.

See you again at CES 2023!

The post Our first (and surely not our last) time at CES appeared first on GKI Group.

We’ve been pretty busy collecting and calculating the amount of money that flowed and has been invested in Israeli startups and got surprised every single time. We still haven’t processed all the data and we’ll try to publish our report later this month, but in the meantime, we can tell you that Israeli startups raised more than $27 billion in 2021. THAT’S A LOT.

That number also includes the last month of 2021, where 37 Israeli companies raised over $2.235 with some mega investments, new Unicorns, and new inventive companies on the rise- as usual.
We’ve got some of these companies covered for you:

On top of the list, with an incredible $400 million Series E investment, we have one of the leading industrial cybersecurity companies, Claroty. Their platform covers all areas such as industrial (OT), Enterprise IoT, and Healthcare (IoMT). To support the latter, the company used the current investment for the acquisition of the medical devices security startup Medigate for $300 million. Speaking of yearly summaries, we’ve mentioned Medigate in our 2020 report.

The next one is clearly a huge achievement and a record-breaking number.
Rehovot-based cultured meat company Future Meat raised a historic $347 million investment, the largest single fundraising for a cultivated meat company and probably one of the largest investments in the Foodtech sector in general. Future Meat is planning to take the funding to make cultivated meat more commercialized and affordable, and begin producing cultivated chicken as well.

Tipalti, the automated accounts payable platform, raised $270 million in December and skyrocketed to an $8.3 billion valuation. Tipalti’s platform, as their Hebrew name suggests, handles payments, procurements, and other financial operations, and reduces companies’ workload by 80%. Trusted by over 2,000 paying enterprises like Canva, Roblox, GoDaddy, and National Geographic, it’s no surprise that Tiplati had made it this far.

Let’s turn waste into treasure with the next company on our list. Cleantech startup UBQ Materials developed a technology that enables them to take unsorted trash, of every sort, and turn it into a plastic-like material called UBQ, “the most climate-positive thermoplastic on the market”. Looks like the company also knows how to turn inventive ideas into money, and raised $170 million this month to continue the development of its vision. Good luck! 

Time for a Unicorn – meet Noname Security, a proactive API security platform, that saves your code and software from using APIs with security vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, and design flaws. Noname made a name for itself this month after securing a $135 million investment that brought the company up to a $1 billion valuation. 

The First Digital Bank, now branded as One Zero, is the first new independent bank in Israel after 40 years and was founded by Mobileye’s Amnon Shashua. One Zero already has more than 60K customers on its waiting list (including me), hoping to see how this digital bank battles with the big ones. To support that move, the bank raised $120 million from a line of investors like Tencent and SBI. Good luck!

After listing out B2B cyber security startups for enterprises and industries, we skipped ahead a bit to tell you about new cybersecurity that aims to protect you, the end-user. Guardio is a lightweight extension designed to help you browse quickly and securely. Just add to it your browser, like Chrome, and it will block harmful sites, monitor data leaks, stop unwanted notifications, or remove malicious extensions. After being installed by more than one million users, Guardio raised $47 million. Cool!  

Too much time on the ground- let’s head over to space. HiSky is an Israeli company developing low-cost voice, data & IoT satellite communication solutions called Smartellite to make satellite communication accessible and affordable, even in the most remote places on earth. HiSky raised $30 million in Series A this December. 

Remember Powermat, one of the pioneers in wireless charging products? Well, it turns out that the company is still active, and totally rocking it, as you can find its technology in more than 800 million smartphones, 40 million embedded accessories, and 8 million cars worldwide. The company charged its batteries with a $25 million investment this month to scale wireless charging tech and enable it for robotic solutions, among its variety of uses.   

The farmers’ arch-nemeses are, apparently, weeds, as they threaten crop production worldwide. Up until now, the farmers had to spray herbicides indiscriminately across the field, which contaminates the soil and water, exposes people to health issues, and costs a lot of money for the farmers. Greeneye Technology developed an AI and deep learning solution that turns every sprayer into a smart machine, to reduce the use of these chemicals and stop the wasteful and harmful spraying. The company raised $22 million this month. Farmers, your sprayers have been answered (excuse the pun). 

The gamer in you might feel excited about this one: Edge Gaming lets you generate and share real mini-games (called Playables) from your gaming highlights that your fans and anyone else can play and compete in. While we’re not entirely sure how this cool idea might work, it seems like the people of Playtika who invested $10 million in the startup – really saw its potential. GAME ON! (and on, and on…)  

Can you predict the next biggest hit series on Netflix or the huge blockbuster that’ll draw anyone back to cinemas like “Spiderman: No Way Home” did? You probably can’t, and so are the studios that use a lot of guesswork (or huge marketing campaigns) rather than algorithms. Israeli startup Vault AI, which raised $8 million this month, uses artificial intelligence to predict customer insights and responses and helps the networks or producers realize who their audience is, how to approach them, and how big the show or movie is gonna be.

Are we humans, or are we influencers? Better ask Israeli startup Humanz that question. Founded by Israeli military intelligence alumni from Unit 8200, who decided to use their knowledge in algorithms for marketing rather than cybersecurity, Humanz is a smart influencers marketing platform that helps brands choose the perfect influencers and content creators for the job and product that needs some boosting. Working with companies like Unilever, Adidas, ZARA, and McDonald’s, no wonder the company raised $8m this month. 

WAKE UP! This is our last company for 2021, with a $4 million investment. Meet Ansā, formerly known as Griin, a coffee machine that roasts beans from the inside out, making it a zero-pollution solution for coffee lovers at home or in the office. So, if you’re into quality coffee and the environment, this might be the product you’ve always needed. 

Well, what else is there to say? It’s hard to believe that 2022 will be as grand as 2021, but life is full of surprises and, apparently,  some spare money to invest in Israeli companies.
See you soon,
Startup Israel Community. 

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