Israel Active

Blackstone Group is one of the world’s largest investment companies. Its recent decision to open an Israeli office has huge positive implications for Israeli startups. Israel’s former Ambassador to the United Nations, Dan Gillerman, will become chairman of Blackstone Israel.

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Israel’s Deel offers a global payroll solution to help 500 companies hire anyone, in over 150 countries, compliantly and in minutes. Its latest $156 million funding raised Deel’s market valuation to $1.25 billion, making it Israel’s 10th new financial Unicorn this year.

Israel’s ZenGo has developed a mobile wallet for retail investors to store and process cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin. Its keyless wallet uses advanced cryptography and supports both Android and iOS smartphones. ZenGo processed transactions worth $100 million in the first 3 months of 2021.

Israeli-founded Cherre launched its real estate data management and analytics platform in New York in 2016. Due to a huge exodus of hi-tech developers from New York, Cherre is now opening an R&D center in Israel, using part of a recent $50 million investment to hire 20 Israeli developers.

Israel's tech industry currently numbers 334,000 employees, constituting nearly 10% of all Israeli employees. Although the number of computer science graduates has increased nearly 50% since 2019, there are still currently 13,000 vacant tech positions in Israel.

More than 200 Israeli entrepreneurs, investors, and bankers held a “Tech on the Roof” event on a rooftop in Jaffa. They celebrated the end of Covid and the return to a sense of normalcy. Also see to Jon Medved’s OurCrowd presentation on Israel’s recent record tech investment.

For the first time in its history, International Monetary Fund data ranks Israel among the top 20 economies for GDP per capita (economic output per person) - a key measure of a nation’s prosperity. Israel’s $43,689 is the 19th highest, above Canada, New Zealand, and the UK.

The Startup Nation may soon be known as the Unicorn nation. A Unicorn is a startup, which is still a privately held company, that has already reached a billion-dollar plus valuation. Israel has had nine startups hit Unicorn status so far this year. The rare, mythical Unicorn is not rare in Israel.

The Italian unit of automaker Stellantis has signed an agreement with Israel’s Innovation Authority to develop identify and develop smart-mobility systems. Stellantis’s vehicles include Maserati, Alpha Romeo, Dodge, Jeep, Lancia, Fiat, Chrysler, Opel, Vauxhall, Peugeot and Citroen,