Israel’s Harel Insurance Group was chosen by Japan’s largest multinational insurance company, Tokio Marine Holdings, to collaborate in founding Israeli hi-tech companies in the innovation and digital sectors.

According to the agreement, Harel Group and Tokio Marine will identify Israeli companies that specialise in innovative technologies and services, and will allow Harel Group access to the cutting-edge technological infrastructure of Tokio Marine.

Attendees at the signing ceremony in July included Makoto Okada (Executive VP, Chief Strategy & Digital Officer; Tokio Marine Holdings Inc) and Yair Hamburger (Chairman, Harel Insurance Group), accompanied by other members of senior leadership from both companies.

This collaboration positions Harel as a leading Israeli financial group that integrates stateof the-art technologies in the group’s business processes. The Harel Group will enable Israeli startups to introduce themselves to investors from Israel and around the world through the arrangement with Tokio Marine.

Israeli company UVeye (short for Under Vehicle Eye), which provides solutions for automatic external inspection of vehicles, has raised U$35 million in a round led by Japanese affiliate Toyota Tsusho – the trading arm of Toyota Group.

UVeye was founded by brothers Amir and Ohad Hever in 2016. The company currently employs 80 people, 70 of them based Israel. It plans to use the money raised to expand its workforce in the burgeoning Start-up State. Amir Hever previously founded Visual Lead, which was sold to Alibaba in 2015 for an amount estimated at the time at US$6-9 million.

UVeye was initially developed as a security company, and its systems were installed at sensitive sites such as embassies, military bases, and ports, tasked with the aim of detecting bombs, drug smuggling, and similar threats. Two years ago, the company decided to develop into the auto and technical spheres- that is, using its existing systems to identify faults in vehicles.