Israel Active

Israel’s Aquarius Engines (see previously) and UK’s Kampac International (KIP) are forming the Middle East Aquarius Automotive company to produce automotive products based on Aquarius technology in the United Arab Emirates. KIP will invest up to $1.2 billion in the UAE facility.

Deloitte Israel and Deloitte US are to mentor a second group of seven Israeli startups that wish to grow their business in the US after the pandemic. The Launchpad program will advise on strategy, relocation, sales infrastructure, and access to top tier venture capital funds in the U.S.

Entrepreneur and JVP chairman Erel Margalit has launched Startup City.Galil – a unique studio for startups in the fields of foodtech and agritech in the Galilee. It will provide members with a range of laboratory infrastructure, and dozens of researchers in the fields of environmental food and agriculture.

The Bank of Israel has issued digital currency for a first internal pilot program prior to the possible issue of a digital Shekel. Israel’s Central Bank Deputy Governor Andrew Abir has been tasked with examining the need for a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) and its implications for the financial sector.

The Israeli Business to Developer (B2D) sector is growing as companies develop products that automate and simplify the jobs of highly sought-after hi-tech developers. Examples include Lumigo, Orca Security, OwnBackup, Redis, Snyk and JFrog. (All but Lumigo featured here previously).

There are now 85 Israeli companies traded on the Nasdaq and NY Stock Exchange. Their combined worth is over $300 billion – up 50% since Jan 2021.

The latest World Economic Forum list of 100 Technology Pioneers includes five Israeli companies. They are CropX, MDClone, Cheq, MyndYou, and Phinergy. The WEF predicts they are “poised to have a significant impact on business and society.” All have been featured in this newsletter.

Israel’s SupPlant (see previously) grew its smart irrigation business by 1,200% in 2020. Already widely used in Mexico, South Africa, Argentina, Australia and Kenya, SupPlant aims for over 2 million smallholders in Africa and India to be utilizing its technology in 2022.

Israeli cybersecurity company Claroty (see previously) has just raised $140 million to make it Israel’s third Unicorn (billion-dollar company) in one week.

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