Israel Active

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.

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Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) will co-supply new radars worth 200 million Euros that will modernize sensor technology onboard the F124 air-defense frigates of the German Navy.

Japan’s second-largest commercial insurance provider, Sompo, is to use the AI-based risk analytics from Israel’s Planck Resolution, to help automate some of Sompo’s underwriting processes. Planck uses public records, online images, videos, reviews etc., to generate risk-related insights.

Israel’s Hanaco is a venture capital fund that invests in companies that adhere to ESG (Environmental, Social and Governmental) standards. In Israel, there is a huge choice and Hanaco has selected Redefine Meat, Via, Infarm, FundBox, Moovit, Candid, EasySend, MDI, Feex (Pontera), SeeTree, and others.

Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio has certainly got an appetite for Israeli startups. In addition to his previous investments (see ) he has now put some of his wealth into Israeli cultivated meat company Aleph Farms “to transform our food system”. He also join Aleph’s advisory board.