47 Israeli entrepreneurs and startups won through to the finals of MassChallenge Israel.  They will benefit from the accelerator’s work space, training, and access to experts worldwide. At a ceremony on Oct 27 prizes of up to NIS 1 million … Continue reading →

Due to strong demand, just two months after launching thrice-weekly direct flights between Tel Aviv and San Francisco (see here), United Airlines said it will increase the frequency of the route.  Daily flights will begin on Oct 8, 2016 on … Continue reading →

Israeli-born economist Ilan Goldfajn may help resolve Brazil’s economic crisis. 50-year-old Goldfajn, originally from Haifa, has been confirmed as president of Brazil’s Central Bank.  Fluent in Hebrew, English, Portuguese and Spanish, Goldfajn has a doctorate from MIT. http://www.jta.org/2016/05/17/news-opinion/world/israeli-born-economist-confirmed-head-of-brazils-central-bank https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anZAY5u7QvU

Israel’s OurCrowd released its new social investor app at FinovateSpring 2016 in San Jose.  The app gives investors the ability to make informed investment decisions right from their mobile phone.  It supports diligence analysis, deal rooms, expert opinion and real … Continue reading →

I reported previously (Jan 2014) about Israel’s Implisit which analyzes a company’s incoming emails to forecast potential deals.  Implisit itself has now done its biggest ever deal, being bought for tens of millions of dollars by the US giant Salesforce, … Continue reading →

As predicted (in my May 29 newsletter) a delegation of more than 50 business professionals came to Israel for New Zealand’s inaugural Innovation Mission.  The executives represented telecommunications, utilities, agriculture, government, finance, education and training. http://www.israel21c.org/first-new-zealand-innovation-mission-flies-to-israel/

May saw Israel’s reserves of foreign currency deposits increase by another $779 million from their level at the end of April to 96.463 billion – a new all-time record.  The natural gas fund increased to $9.6 billion. http://www.boi.org.il/en/NewsAndPublications/PressReleases/Pages/07-06-2016ForexReserve.aspx

Rating agency Fitch upgraded Israel’s credit rating outlook to “positive” from “stable” for its foreign currency debt, while retaining its A rating. Israel’s credit rating is likely to be upgraded shortly.  Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon hailed the vote of confidence … Continue reading →