Investment in Israeli startups (16/1/22)

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OurCrowd’s job fair

OurCrowd, Israel’s most active venture firm, will host its Virtual Job Fair on Monday, Jan 17 (5-7pm Israel time). The online event will highlight thousands of vacancies across OurCrowd’s portfolio companies. CEOs and HR experts will advise on resumes, interviews, self-marketing, and use of LinkedIn.

How the IDF helps get you a job

Video interview that explains how Israel's army service shapes post-military careers.

Virgin Atlantic resume flights

The re-opening of Israel for foreign tourists has encouraged foreign airlines to restart their Tel Aviv services. Virgin Atlantic resumes its London UK operation on Jan 20. The airline offers free unlimited date changes, one transfer to a different passenger, plus other benefits.

More Israeli hotels

Despite low occupancy due to Covid, construction of Israeli hotels is at a five year high. Half of the 148,000 sqm being built is in Tel Aviv, with other sites in Jerusalem, the Kinneret, Haifa and the North. The Israeli tourist industry hopes for a speedy return to the record 4.55 million foreign visitors in 2019.

Upgrading Israel

An interesting idea - global index provider MSCI is considering reassigning Israel from the Middle East, to a new region, likely Europe. It would open the door to large amounts of passive inflows for the Israeli capital markets. It would benefit Israel more than when MSCI upgraded Israel to “developed” in 2010.

Budget deficit slashed

Israel’s budget deficit for 2021 was just 4.5% of GDP, compared to 11.7% for 2020. The improvement was due to higher tax revenue and lower Covid related expenditure.

Exports to Ireland increase by “insane” percentage

Israel’s exports to Ireland increased by a massive 517% in the first nine months of 2021.  The surprising numbers show that all countries need Israeli technology.

$8 million for 9 US-Israeli projects

The BIRD Foundation is granting $8 million to nine new joint US-Israeli projects. The Israeli companies are Civan Lasers, TempraMed, , Mego Afek, Kav-Medida, , Agridrones, , and SirT6 (Ness Ziona).

An extraordinary year

The IVC Research Center and the law firm Meitar have published their 2021 Israel Tech Review. It shows Israeli companies raised an “exceptional” $25.6 billion in private investments, shattering 2020’s previous record of $10.3 billion in funding. Q4 was the strongest, with investments totaling $8 billion.