Eze Vidra's  Instablog

Toda!cell (www.todacell.com), an Israeli ad optimization platform, has raised an A round of $1 million led by Afterdox (see previous coverage on VC Cafe) the Fore Group and several other angels. AfterDox is a group of angel Investors comprised of former execs from the publically traded Israeli billing platform Amdocs (NYSE:DOX). The company had previously raised an undisclosed seed round, when it was founded in March 2007.

TodaCell’s platform matches premium mobile ad campaigns with users, based on territory, carrier, timing, user response, pricing and other parameters. The company is currently present in Israel and Tokyo and plans to expand to the US next.

VC Cafe had a chance to get some comments from CEO Moshe Vaknin,  a serial entrepreneur in the media and online advertising business. Prior to TodaCell he foundedCheckM8, an ad yield management start up. He also served as the president and COO of Adwise during the tech bubble.

Big founding round to Israel’s YCD Multimedia, provider of in-store digital media solutions. The company has reported a $12 million E round led by Pitango Venture Capital and Arts Alliance Digital Ventures, as well as a conversion of an existing bridge loan facility. The proceeds will be sused to build on the company’s presence in the US and UK markets and to invest in its product roadmap.

YCD Platform, the company’s flagship product offers a web platform for retailers to control the display of ads, promotional messages, audio and video playlists to various locations simultaneously. Therefore, customers in a retail chain equipped with screens connected to the system could show the announcement of a sale at the same time. The system also enables scheduling of the media content up to a year in advance.

In addition, the YCD Player enables store owners to perform multizone programming of music and video in their stores:  ”Your customers can hear classical music in the entryway, soft rock by the escalator, and jazz on the second floor and watch dynamic video images that change by day part as they move from zone to zone“. Other products include AdScreen and MuVi Wall, which create mood and increase conversions at the point-of-sale using physical multimedia displays.

The acquisition of Israel’s 3DV Systems by Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT)has been rumoured for a few weeks, but confirmation was given today at the annual press conference of Microsoft’s R&D Center in Israel, one of Microsoft’s four strategic regional development centers. The announcement comes just a few days after the Antitrust Authority approved the deal.