Israel Active

Israel’s government has partnered the American Communities Helping Israel (ACHI) organization to sell Israeli products in the US and Canada. Israeli businesses can join the scheme, under the slogan “Think Israel – Buy Israeli”, if they have a permit to mark products “Made in Israel”.

In the same week that Azerbaijan opened its first Israel trade office, Azerbaijan Investment Company (AIC) signed an agreement with Israel’s OurCrowd. In the first stage, AIC will invest in 10-15 startups from the OurCrowd portfolio, focusing on energy, health, agtech, foodtech, education and more.

Israel’s CropX (see previously) has acquired Dutch-based Dacom Farm Intelligence to add its crop protection capabilities to CropX’s active irrigation technology, hardware-based soil data and fertilizer management features. Dacom has 3,000 agricultural clients managing 20,000+ farms in 40 countries.

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Israel’s NICE systems (see previously) just reported improved second quarter earnings and became Israel’s highest value company at $17 billion.

Deloitte Digital has acquired Israeli brand and product design agency Awesome – the team responsible for Israel’s 2019 Eurovision campaign and the global brand presence of local companies like Playtika and Sodastream. Awesome can now access Deloitte’s many thousands of global clients.

Israel’s Nasdaq-quoted portable X-Ray devices company Nanox (see previously) has just acquired Israeli AI imaging analysis company Zebra Medical (see previously) for $200 million. Nanox has also (TY ) just won a contract to deploy 1,000 systems in Nigeria.

The DCity shopping mall, which opened outside Ma’aleh Adumim near Jerusalem, is Israel’s largest mall and designed as a replica of the famous Venetian Resort in Las Vegas. Its 150,000 square meters features some 200 storefronts, restaurants, a luxury hotel and an artificial indoor sky.

Cyber Defense Magazine’s named Israel’s Noname Security in its 2021 Top 10 Black Unicorn list of cybersecurity startups likely worth $1 billion in 3 years. Israel’s NanoLock, Adaptive Shield, XM Cyber and Siemplify were in the Top 10 Baby Black Unicorn list of $1 billion value in 3-5 years.

Israel’s cumulative government deficit for the twelve months to end July 2021 was 9.3% of GDP, down from 11.7% at the end of 2020. The main reason is increased revenue, up nearly 30% in 2021 compared to 2020. The government is actually spending more in 2021, mostly due to pandemic assistance.