Israel Active

Cyprus’ Energy Minister has announced that the European Union has earmarked 657 million euros ($736 million) for the construction of a 2,000MW undersea electricity cable that will link the power grids of Israel, Cyprus and Greece (see previously).

Interesting article – in summary, Israelis were not afraid to launch or expand technological solutions when most of the world was sheltering from a crisis.

Global giant Merck has signed an agreement worth many millions of dollars with Israel’s Quris (see previously). Merck will be able to use the Quris “human on a chip” platform to test its new medicines and identify those that are safe to use.

raised ; raised ; raised ; Sidelines raised ; raised ; raised ; raised ; raised ;

Israel’s Innovid has acquired UK competitor TVSquared for $160 million. Meanwhile, Israel’s Testim was acquired by Austria’s Tricentis for $200 million.

Israel’s Impala has developed an Impact Intelligence product for locating non-profits. Similar to LinkedIn, users can analyze any non-profit ecosystem anywhere in the U.S by searching for specific traits such as geographies, causes, funders etc.

European call center Webhelp is establishing a Tel Aviv office this year and is recruiting 500 local employees. Webhelp currently employs more than 95,000 employees in over 50 countries.

Israel is to establish a joint hi-tech investment fund with the United Arab Emirates. The binational industrial R&D fund will support requests for joint activities between Israeli and Emirati companies. Israel and the UAE will each allocate NIS 15 million per year to the fund over ten years.

New immigrants (Olim) are currently eligible for income-tax deductions for up to three and a half years. A new bill going through the Knesset (Israeli Parliament) will add NIS 223 per month to the amount that Olim can earn before tax and extend its validity to four and a half years.

Israel’s Amdocs reported record revenue totaling $1.1 billion in the last quarter of 2021, 11% higher than Q4 2020. It has also given its 29,000 employees a flexible vacation model that means they can take an unlimited number of vacation days.