Israel Active

Israeli exports of goods and services rose 24% in the first half of 2021 to $67.6 billion compared to the same period in 2020. Exports rose an unprecedented 38% in the second quarter.

The smart glass technology of Israel’s Gauzy (see previously) has been integrated into the headlights of the new BMWi Vision Circular electric vehicle. Meanwhile, LG’s new OLED panel uses Gauzy’s tech for dynamic displays on public transportation vehicles.

raised ; raised n (IPO) raised ; raised ; raised ; raised ; raised ; raised ; raised ; raised (TASE IPO); raised ; raised ; raised ; raised ;

Israel’s Trigo Vision (see previously) is piloting its grab-and-go, checkout-free shopping technology in the Netherlands with German-owned supermarket chain Aldi. Trigo’s technology will power a 400-square-meter Aldi Nord grocery store in Utrecht.

Israeli cybersecurity Guardicore (see previously) protects companies from hackers that demand a huge ransom to release control of their systems. Guardicore itself has now been “captured” by US cybersecurity giant Akamai Technologies for the grand total of $600 million.

Microsoft says it will double the number of employees in its Israeli research and development (R&D) department to 4,500 in the next four years. Microsoft’s 2,000 R&D staff is 30% more than 18 months ago. Meanwhile, Microsoft’s venture fund M12 invested in Israeli employee tech GrowthSpace.

The Czech Ministry of Defense signed a 2-billion-shekel (about $627 million) deal to purchase the Spyder surface-to-air missile system from Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems. It replaces a Soviet Kub system from the 1970s.

Excellent article explaining the surge in Israeli Unicorns – companies valued over $1 billion. The coronavirus pandemic means it is no longer relevant that Israel is far from the USA or Europe. Also, Israeli companies already are geared up for the global market.

$2.3 billion was invested in FinTech (Israeli Financial Technology companies) in the first half of 2021, some 28% higher than the whole of 2020.  Payment solutions are Israel’s largest innovation sector with 500 companies helping the global economy process transactions remotely.

In a reversal of the usual type of acquisition, Israel’s Kape Technologies has paid nearly $1 billion to acquire ExpressVPN, one of the world’s leading Virtual Private Network software providers. Kape (on London’s AIM) previously acquired GhostVPN, Zenmate VPN and Israel’s Webselenese.