Israel Active

A recent survey by US-Israel Ground Up Ventures debunks reports that there is a drought of funds for new Israeli startups. 37 of Israel’s leading venture funds they surveyed made 145 investments at the seed stage in 2020 (rising from 112 in 2019). The average investment also rose - by 20%.

In 2020 Japanese firms invested some $1.1 billion in Israel – 20% higher than in 2019. (In 2015 it was just £87 million.) Japan now accounts for more than 11% of all foreign investment in Israeli high-tech (compared to under 2% in 2016). Mitsubishi and Sumitomo were the largest investors.

Almost every month Israel hits a new record for its reserves of foreign currency deposits. In Jan 2021 they rose by another six billion dollars to almost $180 billion. The Bank of Israel is selling Shekels to encourage exports, but the value of the shekel keeps rising due to global confidence in the Israeli economy.

January 2021 saw an unprecedented record $1.2 billion invested in Israeli companies. It included the generating of five new Israeli Unicorns (value over $1 billion).

Israel’s Edete (reported previously) is to trial its artificial pollination technology in the Australian state of Victoria. Its machinery that can be deployed both day and night, and at extreme temperatures. While Israel is busy saving the world’s honeybees, this is Plan B!

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Saket Agarwal of India’s Onnivation Ventures, markets the services of 15 Israeli hi-tech companies to India’s largest corporates. His “portfolio” of Israeli expertise in cloud, data science, AI, cybersecurity and marketing, attracts millions of dollars in annual business.

Israel’s Pixellot (reported previously) is now partnering with NBC Sports Group company SportsEngine to launch Pixellot YOU. SportsEngine’s clubs can record their games via a virtual camera operator and receive highlights for each player. It will also help coaches improve team performance.

Tesla officially launched its official sales in Israel for its electric vehicle on a new website. It is also building a sales agency at Ramat Aviv Mall in Tel Aviv.

Detailed accounts have just been released for Intel Israel. They show that the Israeli operation increased exports in 2020 by 14% to $8 billion. Intel is responsible for 14% of Israel’s hi-tech exports, and its 13,950 employees generate 2% of the country's GDP.