Israel Active

Israel’s internet is the world’s best value for money. So states the latest Global Internet Value index released by privacy protection toolset provider Surfshark (see previously). The index ranks 117 countries based on speed-to-affordability ratios of fixed broadband and mobile internet.

Israel’s Apollo Power (see previously) has built the “world’s first” factory for flexible solar film panels. The $30 million facility in Yoknean can produce enough solar film each year to power up to 40,000 homes. Apollo’s customers include Amazon, Volkswagen, and Audi.

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Global management consultancy firm McKinsey has Israel’s real-time data analytics startup Iguazio (see previously) for .

Israel’s Pigmentum (see previously) has had “seed” funding from Israeli food companies Tnuva, Strauss, Tempo, and Kibbutz Yotvata, plus crowdfunding platform OurCrowd. They all see a “growth” market in Pigmentum’s milk from lettuce technology. Let us hope it “succeeds”!

Israel’s Cellebrite (see previously) has won a $14 million 5-year contract to provide its Premium Collect and Review Solution for Digital Evidence to Singapore’s national police agency to help reduce crime.

US food giant General Mills is launching three types of vegan cream cheese in US supermarkets, all made with the non-animal proteins from Israel’s Remilk (see previously). Remilk’s proteins are identical to those contained in cows’ milk.

Israel’s Pomvom (see previously) has won a tender from US amusement park chain Six Flags to provide its digital photography solutions to eleven of its theme parks over the next five years. With over 13 million visitors in 2019, the deal is potentially worth around $21 million.

The Tourism Ministers of Israel and Bulgaria have signed a cooperation agreement. 200,000 Israelis visited Bulgaria in 2019 and almost as many visited last year. Bulgaria Air currently operates four flights a week between Sofia and Tel Aviv while Israel’s El Al offers three.

In the first 11 months of 2022, the Israeli Tax Authority registered 142,100 new companies - over twice as many as in 2021, when 64,900 businesses were created. Many employees laid off during the Covid-19 pandemic have now started their own companies.