Israel Active

The Tel Aviv Municipality along with Google and Microsoft and others are to hold Israel’s “biggest 24-hour online bootcamp” on 15th & 16th Sep. The aim is to turn the ideas of at least 100 of the 500 participating fledgling entrepreneurs into new startup companies.

Despite having no vehicle manufacturing companies, Israel has been accepted as a member of the International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers (OICA). Israel’s advanced auto-tech industry was sufficient qualification.

Israel’s reserves of foreign currency rose by another $4 billion to a more than $161 billion – the fifth consecutive month they have reached record levels.

Israelis Orit Alperovitz and Inbal Polak were sick of being the only women in the room, so, they started a women-only investor club. NEOME was founded for the explicit purpose of getting more women involved in investments. It has 50 members, meets every month and has made major investments.

Saudi Arabia and Bahrain have formally agreed to allow all aircraft, including Israeli, to use their airspace. Meanwhile, UAE’s Etihad Airways has started selling tickets to Israelis, with direct flights between the UAE and Israel expected within just a few weeks.

The US State of Pennsylvania has given a grant of $300,000 to help advance the clinical testing of opaganib from Israel’s RedHill Biopharma (reported previously). The grant is part of the state’s program supporting the rapid advancement of promising novel COVID-19 therapies.

Israel signed its first official agreement with the United Arab Emirates. A joint committee was set up to advance cooperation in finances and investments. The UAE formally ended its economic boycott of Israel and signed a decree to build ties in business, tourism, tech, research, energy, and academia.

Israel’s Innovation Authority has launched a NIS 40 million ($12 million) a year program to bring advanced manufacturing capabilities to Israeli industry and increase the number of tech firms that make their products in Israel. It will help build new factories and upgrade the technology at existing ones.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi met on Thursday with 11 ambassadors from the Asia-Pacific region. Bilateral agreements were signed with India to promote culture and cooperate on a water project in India.

The Israel Innovation Authority is awarding grants of up to $2 million for projects involving both Israeli and South Korean companies. The projects need to be in the bio arena, including nanorobotics, advanced therapeutics discovery, tissue engineering and bio-electronics.