After raising $45 million, collapsed Israeli startup CoreTigo sells for just $350,000
Aeterlink of Japan will acquire CoreTigo’s patents, technology and intellectual property following the company’s liquidation.
The Central District Court last week approved the sale of all assets, technology and intellectual property belonging to Israeli industrial wireless technology startup CoreTigo to Japan’s Aeterlink Corp. for $350,000. The sale follows CoreTigo’s financial collapse and entry into liquidation proceedings earlier this year.
Founded in 2017, CoreTigo developed wireless communication systems for industrial machinery based on the IO-Link Wireless standard. Its products, which function somewhat like industrial Wi-Fi routers, connect the computers controlling industrial machines with components such as sensors, robotic arms and motors. The company also developed, manufactured and marketed communication products and specialized solutions for applications including packaging machinery and parcel-sorting equipment.
According to a motion filed with the court earlier this year by attorney Pinni Yaniv of Meitar law firm, CoreTigo raised approximately $45 million during its years of operation from leading strategic and financial investors, including Amazon, Qualcomm, Verizon and Lenovo, as well as Israeli financial investors such as Meitav Dash. The filing attributed the company’s financial collapse primarily to its heavy dependence on a single customer, a German sensor manufacturer that accounted for approximately 50% of its revenue.
According to the motion, the customer began repeatedly postponing orders following a crisis in Germany’s automotive industry in 2025. By January 2026, CoreTigo had run out of cash to pay suppliers, employees and landlords, prompting it to petition the Central District Court to initiate insolvency proceedings. In February 2026, Judge Hana Kitzis ordered the company’s liquidation and appointed attorney Gil Efrati as trustee.
An invitation to submit bids failed to attract any serious offers. The trustee received one inquiry from a German company that later withdrew, along with several nominal offers for the company’s inventory alone. Efrati subsequently negotiated directly with Aeterlink, eventually securing an offer of $350,000.
The transaction includes CoreTigo’s patents and patent applications, intellectual property rights, technology and goodwill, among other assets.
Attorney Ofir Ronen, who represents the company’s employees, said: “I welcome the deal reached thanks to the efforts of the trustee. I will work to ensure that the relevant employees I represent receive the remaining funds owed to them, up to the statutory priority ceiling, following their receipt of final settlement payments from the National Insurance Institute (up to a maximum of NIS 134,966).”
Efrati said: “We are pleased that, following more than six months of negotiations, the court has approved the deal. Throughout this process, we received very low offers for the company’s inventory and products. However, we chose not to rush into a decision, opting instead to pursue the sale of the company as a whole, despite the risks and costs involved in preserving its assets.
“Ultimately, our patience paid off. The sale of the company as a whole yielded significantly higher proceeds for creditors than the partial offers would have. We would like to thank the Israel Innovation Authority for its cooperation throughout the process, its support for this initiative and its consent to the sale. We hope the transaction will be successfully completed.”
