Israel Active

Israel’s Liquidity Capital and Dubai’s Vault Investments have formed a joint Venture Debt Investment fund with more than $100 million based in Dubai. It will finance tech companies across the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe to create new growth in the region.

Israel has been able to survive the Covid pandemic better than most OECD countries due to its hi-tech exports. Despite high unemployment, Israel’s hi-tech companies have attracted record levels of investment by both the government and global markets.

The Israel-US Binational Industrial Research and Development Foundation is funding 8 joint US-Israeli projects a total of $7.45 million. They include lighter airline seats, smart pollination, medical micro-optics, CAD inspection, remote skin scanning and epilepsy laser treatment.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, Israel’s JoyTunes (reported previously) has been downloaded some 10 million times. Its app Simply Piano is listed as one of Apple’s ‘Editor’s Choice’ in its App Store and voted Best App in Google Play.

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Swiss-based Infront, provider of business services to sport organizations FIFA, UEFA, FIBA etc., has opened an innovation laboratory in Israel. Infront Lab is partnering Israeli companies WSC Sports, Minute.ly, and Videocites and says it will invest at least $1 million in Israel.

Israeli-founded K Health (reported previously) has become popular during the Covid pandemic when people could not reach their doctors. K Health managed to solve 90% of problems remotely. K Health has just raised $132 million, valuing the company at $1.4 billion and becomes another Unicorn.

Israel’s Nano Dimension (reported previously) launched on the Nasdaq in 2016 but has only recently become a popular stock. Its share price has risen, even as it raised some $332 million of funds. The company now has a market valuation of $1.4 billion, giving it the financial status of a “Unicorn”.

Hyundai is the latest carmaker to invest in Israel’s UVeye, joining Toyota, Honda, and Volvo. Hyundai wants UVeye’s sensors and camera-based inspection technology for the automatic external inspection of vehicles, on its production lines as well as for used car sales activities.

Israel’s Bringg (reported previously) has partnered with US ride-sharing service Uber to improve the retail delivery experience for customers worldwide. Bringg’s customers will now have access to drivers through Uber Direct, which enables same-day and next-day delivery.