TEL AVIV, Israel, April 14, 2020 – Intel Ignite, Intel's startup growth program in Israel, today announced the 10 startups selected for its second cohort, which is scheduled to begin April 19. In response to the coronavirus, Intel Ignite also announced that the program will be conducted entirely online until people can safely return to work.

Choosing from more than 200 applicants, 70 startups were interviewed for two to three hours each. Sixteen were shortlisted, with 10 startups ultimately selected. More than 50 Intel executives and technical leaders, top venture capitalists (VCs), entrepreneurs and ecosystem influencers helped with the interviews and final selection.

More: Intel Announces Program for Israeli Startups Targeting Tech Inflections

During the 12-week program, each startup will be assigned an industry mentor, with whom it will conduct weekly virtual meetings. The virtual program will include sales and marketing workshops, culture and team building, networking, and coaching sessions with industry experts, including sessions on how to work through challenging economic situations. The mentor entrepreneurs will speak to the startups about crisis management and their takeaways for successfully managing and building companies regardless of the challenges.

The new cohort consists of a range of seed startups, each with an average funding of more than $5 million. The companies in the second cohort are:

• Aspecto helps development teams solve production issues before they evolve, using deep API analysis. The company's approach is to automate tasks based on real production data.
• Chain Reaction enables enterprise blockchain adoption by solving the scale and security barriers. Its cloud-based hardware infrastructure enables enterprise-grade privacy-enabled blockchain systems.
• ClassiQ tackles the most urgent and complex challenges in quantum computing development. The company bridges the gap between complex quantum logic and real-world applications.
• Compira Labs leverages next-generation congestion control and machine learning to prevent poor quality video streaming. The technology is used by content distribution networks and over-the-top video providers.
• Deepchecks monitors artificial intelligence (AI) systems, helping organizations with various aspects of controlling their AI systems, including monitoring, predicting failures and identifying root cause issues.
• Hyro creates plug-and-play conversational AI assistants for enterprises by seamlessly consolidating information on their websites and databases without the use of any integrations, playbooks or training data from customers.
• Indoor Robotics developed an autonomous platform for indoor navigation and operation of robots. Its holistic solution performs active monitoring on the premises for early detection of hazards. A cloud-based AI anomaly detection software provides further analysis of events.
• OneView allows scalable and efficient analysis of satellite imagery by utilizing virtual synthetic data optimized for machine learning algorithm training.
• Shopic created the world's first frictionless checkout platform using AI, which fits medium to large grocery stores. It provides line-free checkout, while eliminating incidents of fraud and increasing sales. Its platform also collects advanced analytics for retailers, providing information on stock levels, missing items and more.
• Valid Networks blends the best practices of traditional application security in dApps software development. Its proprietary technology utilizes advanced machine learning algorithms and code verification techniques.

"We are very excited to have such an incredible group of startups participating in our second cohort," said Tzahi (Zack) Weisfeld, Intel Ignite general manager. "The global situation is confronting us with a new reality, and we are looking to help startups overcome their challenges. Startups are in real need for experienced advice and guidance. This is the time to do everything in our power to help them."

About Intel Ignite

Intel® Ignite is a 12-week program for 10 diverse and impressive early-stage startups that will receive hands-on mentorship from Intel and world-leading experts. The companies will gain access to technology and business leaders, a preferred path to the best investors, as well as the knowledge, resources, and association that comes with being accepted into one of the world's most challenging and competitive startup programs. For information, visit www.intel.com/ignite.