Latest / Israel Tech Daily / Elbit buys underwater drone maker ISE, RGo Robotics winds down, and XTEND shares hit a new low

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Elbit buys underwater drone maker ISE, RGo Robotics winds down, and XTEND shares hit a new low · Israel Tech Daily

• 0:00
  Noa: Elbit Systems has bought a Canadian company that builds underwater drones. Elbit calls the price not material, but Globes says the deal shows how much Israel's defense industry now cares about unmanned submarines.
• 0:18
  Noa: Good morning, it's Wednesday, the twenty-first of October. I'm Noa.
• 0:22
  Eli: And I'm Eli. Today, an Israeli robotics startup winds down but leaves John Deere's Blue River with a new R&D center here, XTEND's shares hit a new low despite a US military order, and Stripe is hiring someone to run Israel.
• 0:37
  Noa: Elbit says it has completed the acquisition of International Submarine Engineering, known as ISE, based in the Vancouver area. ISE makes autonomous underwater vehicles and remotely operated vehicles, along with control systems and robotics.
• 0:52
  Eli: ISE has more than fifty years in subsea robotics, and Elbit says it has delivered over 250 underwater vehicles to customers in more than 20 countries. Neither side gave a price. CTech notes the announcement named no new customers and no timetable for folding the technology into Elbit's products.
• 1:13
  Noa: Elbit says the aim is underwater intelligence and surveillance, mine countermeasures and anti-submarine warfare. Its CEO, Bezhalel Machlis, called it another milestone in the company's naval strategy.
• 1:25
  Eli: It fits a pattern. CTech points out that in May, Elbit bought Bluewhite, an Israeli company that turns ordinary vehicles into autonomous ones. Elbit already sells the Seagull, an unmanned surface vessel it introduced in 2017. ISE adds what goes below the surface.
• 1:43
  Noa: Globes adds that Israel Aerospace Industries is in the same field with its Blue Whale unmanned submarine, and that Greece plans to lease three of them. The Jerusalem Post frames the deal around Canada, where melting Arctic ice is making the underwater domain more important.
• 1:59
  Noa: Next, an ending with a twist. TheMarker reports, in a story carried by Ice, that RGo Robotics is winding down after raising about $25 million over eight years.
• 2:10
  Eli: RGo was founded in 2018 by Amir Bousani, Nitzan Horesh and Assaf Agmon, all from Intel's RealSense computer vision unit. Its software lets robots find their way using simple, cheap cameras, in warehouses, on farms and on factory floors. Investors included StageOne, MoreTech and CVP.
• 2:31
  Noa: The problem was the market. According to the report, robots spread through industry more slowly than forecast, sales stayed low, and for two years the company lived on bridge loans and SAFE agreements. Staff fell from about 50 at the peak to about ten.
• 2:47
  Eli: No one bought the whole company, so it sold three permanent licenses to its technology. The main one went to Blue River Technology, a John Deere subsidiary, which also hired seven RGo employees. Blue River will open its first R&D center outside the US in Israel, led by Bousani, working on autonomous robots for farming and construction.
• 3:09
  Noa: The other two buyers, a forklift and logistics company and a manufacturer, were not named. TheMarker says the deals together come close to the total raised, so investors should get most of their money back.
• 3:21
  Eli: Bousani's own verdict: the technology works, but the robotics market is smaller in practice than the hype suggests.
• 3:28
  Noa: Now to drone maker XTEND. CTech reports its shares fell about twelve percent over five trading days, taking its market value to a new low of about $495 million.
• 3:40
  Eli: That is roughly two-thirds below the approximately $1.5 billion valuation it listed at in New York in September, through a merger with JFB Construction Holdings. And it comes a week after a $40.5 million order from the US military for 6,000 STRIKER drone systems.
• 3:58
  Noa: More orders are not guaranteed. CTech says XTEND must first deliver a 400-system production order before it can move on to the next stage of the Pentagon's Drone Dominance Program.
• 4:08
  Eli: The gap is between today's numbers and the forecasts. XTEND had about $20 million in revenue in 2025 and a net loss of $27 million. Its merger prospectus projected about $86 million in revenue this year, and a profit in 2027. CTech says the market is asking how fast it can actually scale.
• 4:29
  Noa: Payments company Stripe is preparing to enter Israel. Globes reports Stripe is recruiting a general manager for Israel, where its payment processing is not yet available. The job posting calls Israel a strategically important market.
• 4:43
  Eli: The manager would set local strategy, build a sales team, and work with banks, fintech companies and regulators. Stripe asks for at least fifteen years in technology, payments or financial services, plus Hebrew and English. The posted range is about 1.2 to 1.8 million shekels a year, which for sales roles includes commissions or bonuses.
• 5:05
  Noa: Globes gives no launch date. For now, it is a job posting, but a senior one.
• 5:10
  Noa: One more defense deal. Israel Shipyards and Rafael are close to selling naval vessels and weapon systems to Cyprus. CTech puts it at about 150 million euros, Globes at over $100 million.
• 5:24
  Eli: According to CTech, Israel Shipyards would supply the vessels, fitted with Rafael weapons, under a government-to-government agreement, with signing expected in the coming weeks. Rafael and Israel Shipyards declined to comment. Globes says Israel Shipyards' shares jumped six percent in Tel Aviv on the report.
• 5:43
  Noa: CTech notes it follows Achilles Shield, the air defense agreement Israel signed with Greece in August, worth about three billion euros.
• 5:52
  Noa: Now the quick round-up.
• 5:53
  Eli: SanDisk is moving its northern development center from Tefen to a new campus in the North High-Tech Park in Bar-Lev, CTech reports. About 120 employees will move, and another 600 work in Kfar Saba. SanDisk's shares are up about 400 percent this year on demand for AI storage.
• 6:12
  Noa: Qualcomm's CEO, Cristiano Amon, told staff the company will cut jobs worldwide after annual reviews, targeting people who consistently fell short, CTech reports. Notices start in November. Qualcomm has not said whether Israel, where it has grown through deals like Autotalks, will be affected.
• 6:31
  Eli: Meta's Ray-Ban and Oakley AI glasses are now officially on sale in Israel, Geektime reports, along with the Meta AI app that runs them. Meta says prices here start at 1,590 shekels.
• 6:44
  Noa: And the Tel Aviv District Court has rejected Electronic Arts' attempt to throw out a proposed class action over FIFA loot boxes on jurisdiction grounds, CTech reports. The plaintiff alleges the boxes are illegal gambling. EA argues that chance alone does not make a game gambling. The court has not ruled on that question.
• 7:04
  Eli: One thing to watch: whether Cyprus signs. CTech says signing is expected in the coming weeks, once both defense ministries finalize terms, and Israeli defense sources told it the deal could lead to more commercial ties, including manufacturing.
• 7:19
  Noa: CTech also reports that Israel Aerospace Industries has already supplied Cyprus with its Barak MX air defense system, though Israel has not officially confirmed that deal.
• 7:30
  Eli: Follow Israel Tech Daily wherever you get your podcasts, and read more at startuptofollow.com.
• 7:35
  Noa: See you tomorrow morning.