The interview is from late last year, but I find it very interesting. I’ve had a browse through the Israeli press for the first time in ages. So here’s the translation (using DeepL) from the Hebrew. I’d like to remind you – as it’s been a long time – that the name ‘Weebit’ (
וויביט) has given rise to several imaginative but incorrect variations in translation. The bold ist just copied.
"Promised and delivered: the share price soared by 255% in six months. “This is a turning point for Vibeet”
Weebit has secured a contract with Texas Instruments. “In another 20 years, we’ll look back on today as a historic day for Weebit,” CEO Kobi Hanoch tells us; last May, Hanoch told us, “We’re in talks with companies that could lead to multi-million-dollar deals”; Six months later, WeVibe has soared from around A$370 million to over A$1.2 billion – what is the market’s potential and has the path to NASDAQ been paved? – Interview
Mandy Henig | 29/12/2025 11:09
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Topics in this article Wibit Kobi Hanoch
Six months ago, when we spoke to Kobi Hanoch, CEO of Wibit Nano, the company’s share price was at a low. It had lost 50% of its value, and you could already hear market speculation that someone would likely buy them out and they would end up like many companies in the industry that had been swallowed up by one of the dominant players. We spoke to Hanoch and he was determined and very optimistic about the future. He claimed they were on the verge of a breakthrough: “We are in talks with companies that could lead to multi-million-dollar deals.” Such talk seemed almost out of place coming from a company that had burned through millions and had listed on the Australian stock exchange to raise capital, yet asked investors to be patient quarter after quarter.
WeBit is surging by over 18% in Australia this morning, after announcing the signing of a licensing agreement with US chip giant Texas Instruments. Under the agreement, WeBit’s non-volatile memory technology (explained below), ReRAM, will be integrated into TI’s advanced manufacturing processes for embedded chips, which are used, among other things, in the automotive and industrial markets. The agreement includes intellectual property licensing, technology transfer and support throughout the design and certification process, and is structured such that WeBit is expected to receive licensing fees and, subsequently, royalties on every product in which its technology is integrated.
Click to read the previous interview article -
For Vibeet, this is not just another client, or a work order that will bring in money, but above all, validation. “The major players were sitting on the fence; they wanted to see a key player sign with us and believe in this solution. TI, one of the world’s largest chip manufacturers, which produces tens of billions of chips a year, will enable us to access a market with enormous potential that analysts estimate will grow 45-fold over the next decade,” says Hanoch in the interview.
How do you view this contract?
“In a few years’ time, when people look back and ask what was the critical moment in WiBit’s development, it will undoubtedly be today,” notes Hanoch, his voice tinged with excitement, “This is a very important deal for WiBit. A few background points on the sector we’re in and how it has developed in recent years will help you understand the significance of this deal for us. We specialise in non-volatile memory for system-on-a-chip. Today, an entire system is placed on a single chip, and companies build modules around it. Among other things, they need non-volatile memory. This market has been searching for a replacement for flash for many years, because it is already clear that flash has reached its limits in the embedded sector."
And why has non-volatile memory become so critical?
“It is clear to everyone that flash has reached the limits of its capabilities in the embedded sector. Over the last two or three years, the market has realised that the real solution is ReRAM. It is much cheaper than any other solution, including flash, much faster, and consumes far less power. A long list of advantages that are almost essential in every application. That is why analysts believe that this market for ReRAM in embedded systems
is set to grow 45-fold over the next six years. This is a new technology trend; there is no cyclicality here at the moment. Everyone simply needs it.
The emerging ReRAM market is small today. It currently stands at $35 million and is expected to reach $1.7 billion within six years.”
Who are the players in this market today?
“There are only two players in this market today. There’s TSMC and Weebit – us. These are the only two players with memory ready for mass production,” “There were also giant manufacturers like Intel and Samsung who tried to develop ReRAM but ultimately abandoned the projects.”
Read more in “Global”
“Global Foundries and UMC are the other two players trying to bring ReRAM to market. So far without success; they are lagging behind, and I don’t know whether or not they will succeed in the end. It’s important to understand. TSMC, UMC and Global Foundries are foundries. They are silicon manufacturers. They will never give their technology to other manufacturers. And that is the key point. Companies like ON Semiconductor and Texas Instruments, and all the other manufacturers, have no other option.
WiBit is the only option they have, because WiBit is the only independent company with ReRAM ready for mass production.
So perhaps there is a risk that, given the potential, someone will take up the challenge, develop it and overtake you?
"In the semiconductor world, it takes around 20 years to develop such technology. Twenty years ago, they started developing technologies to replace flash. Intel and Samsung put whole teams on it and then abandoned it. It’s a very complex project. We currently have 17 PhDs in chemistry and physics developing the technology. It’s not something someone can come up with in six months or a year. UMC, too, has been unable to bring this to mass production for years. It is very difficult to bring this technology to production.‘
How many staff members do you currently have in the company? Are you recruiting?
’We’ve already passed 60. We’re just over 60, and of those, 17 are PhDs in chemistry and physics. That gives you an idea of VIVITY’s human capital. Beyond the team in Israel, we also have a development centre in France, which works closely with the manufacturing plant, and that’s important because a large part of our work involves taking technology from the lab and turning it into something that works on a real production floor.
“The people who join us come from very strong industry backgrounds – engineers and physicists who have previously worked at companies such as Tower and Intel, people who are well versed in both development and manufacturing. Many of them choose to join Vivit because they see value in working for a small, focused company, where they can be at the heart of developing new technology, rather than just another small cog in a huge organisation. We are constantly recruiting, both in Israel and in France, mainly people with very specific experience in memory, analogue, and process development – those who can work at the cutting edge of technology and bring it to market.”
Your share price has surged in Australia – give us a look at the figures; what were the latest results?
“In Australia, the financial year ends in June; people get confused by this. In the financial year ending June 2024, we had revenue of one million Australian dollars. In the financial year ending June 2025, revenue was already 4.4 million Australian dollars. In the first quarter of the 2026 financial year, the one ending in September, in Australia they don’t report revenue every quarter but rather cash inflows, and the cash inflows for that quarter alone were 7.3 million Australian dollars. You’re starting to see the direction.
And now we have announced that in the financial year ending in June 2026, revenue will be at least AUD 10 million.
"For a long time, I’ve been telling everyone that we’re in contact with almost all the major players in the market. Everyone wants ReRAM; everyone is talking to us.
The problem was this hesitation from a young company with new technology; people were afraid to be the first. They wanted to see someone else be the first. The good news is that here we are, it’s actually happening. ON Semiconductor and now TI too have been convinced that the technology’s potential is far greater than the theoretical risk they imagined.
What are the financial implications of the agreement with TI? Are there any actual figures?
“TI are very strict about me not discussing these matters. But you can see from the figures we’ve already reported to the stock exchange regarding revenue and the total cash we’ve received from these two customers, and you realise that these are not small deals. What’s more important than the money is that the world’s number one analogue company has decided to work with Weebit, to use our technology. Their competitors are looking at this and realising that TI will have a technological advantage.”
Did you grant TI exclusivity, or was there such a request?
“Heaven forbid. There is no exclusivity whatsoever. Not a chance in the world. We are the only independent company in the world that can work with any manufacturer, and we are in contact with almost all the major manufacturers.”
Let’s talk about applications. To which industries is your product applicable?
“Almost every application in the world needs non-volatile memory. Non-volatile memory is memory that retains information even when there is no power, even when the power is cut off. In every electronic product, there is that moment when you switch it on and expect the software, basic data and essential elements to already be there. This applies to every sector, from mobile phones to industrial systems.
“We have also demonstrated that our technology meets very stringent requirements. We have passed the AEC-Q100 standard, which is an automotive industry standard, meaning our memory can operate for ten years at temperatures of up to 150 degrees Celsius. Such durability is relevant first and foremost to the automotive sector, but it also opens doors to other markets, such as space and aviation, where resistance to extreme heat and cosmic radiation is required.
“Beyond that, the technology’s power consumption is very low, making it particularly suitable for IoT and battery-powered products. And in recent years, we’ve also seen strong interest from the AI sector, especially in applications where the memory needs to be integrated very close to the processor and operate quickly and efficiently.”
How does this apply to AI?
“The trend in the AI market is moving towards doing more inference on edge devices. These chips are manufactured using 22-nanometre and smaller technologies. Flash cannot be produced at less than 28 nanometres, so by definition these chips cannot contain flash internally and are forced to work with two chips. It’s more expensive, it’s slower to boot up because the weights need to be copied, and there are also security issues because the data passes over an external connection. If, instead, our ReRAM is used, the memory can be placed inside the AI chip itself. It’s a single chip, cheaper, the system is ready immediately, and there’s no such security issue.”
You’ve said in the past that you wanted something ‘mature’ before listing in the US. Following this progress and the agreements with major players, has the path to NASDAQ been paved? Is there even a possibility of listing in Tel Aviv – is that back on the table now?
“The Australian stock exchange isn’t bad for us at all. We’ve raised around 100 million US dollars there to date, and it has enabled us to fund development over many years. But looking ahead, it’s clear that the natural home for a company like WeBit isn’t Australia. We’ll reach a point where we can say we have a strong backbone, a significant client list and revenues starting to accumulate, and that’s exactly what American investors want to see.
“I’m currently in the transition phase. We are starting to show revenue, starting to show the business direction, but I am still primarily focused on strengthening the company, securing further agreements and adding more big names to the list. The more big names we add, the easier it becomes to bring in further names. We are acting in the best interests of our shareholders and will do whatever brings them the most value.”
You operate in Australia, and it is impossible not to mention the horrific massacre that took place last Hanukkah at a Chabad Hanukkah party on Bondi Beach in Sydney – you operate in the Australian market; is there a sense of a shift in sentiment or anything affecting your operations?
“At the level of WeBit itself, we don’t feel any impact from this. Our shareholders are very loyal to us; many of them have been with us for years. They see the company’s progress and understand the process. At this level, there is no change.
“It is important to say that there is a less favourable atmosphere in Australia at the governmental level, and this has been the case for some time. There is a stance there that is far less friendly towards Israel, and this is something you can sense in the background. But as far as the company and the investors are concerned, we are not experiencing anti-Semitism or any harm to our operations. The average Australian, and indeed most of our shareholders, are very pro-Israel and supportive of the company. As far as we are concerned, this is not something that affects our day-to-day work or our relationship with the market.”
In conclusion, this is a historic day for WeBit
“It’s also a day of coming full circle with our shareholders. We promised our shareholders a major deal before the end of the year, and here we are delivering on that. I try to be conservative and not make promises, but if you follow WeBit’s history, you’ll see that more or less everything I’ve promised the market, I’ve delivered on.”
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