Israel Active

Japanese insurance giant Sompo and Israeli ride-sharing company Via Transportation have launched NORAZA - a new app that enables elderly Japanese to share rides, paying with virtual local currency. Japan is trying to reduce car accidents involving the elderly and to reduce traffic congestion.

Israel’s Lusha helps small, medium and large businesses establish a fast and trusted connection with their leads, contacts, and candidates. Lusha is used daily by over 250,000 sales representatives, recruitment managers, and marketers. Clients including Google, Amazon, and Apple.

The Israeli incubator InNegev is dedicated to fostering Israeli innovation in the Negev. It has just made its first major investment in Israel’s SightBit (reported previously). Sightbit uses AI and computer vision technology to detect and prevent swimmers from drowning off Israeli beaches.

The Secret Tel Aviv Job Board, a popular platform used by Anglos and Israelis in Tel Aviv, primarily in the tech sector, has seen a bounce-back to pre-pandemic demand levels, despite Israel entering its fourth lockdown. The board now has over 2,300 jobs available - more than ever before.

The Bank of Israel has used the strengthening of the Shekel to purchase more foreign currency.  The reserves leaped by over $6 billion in the last month of 2020 to a new record of more than $173 billion.

The Israel Innovation Authority has set up a new NIS 80 million fund to encourage investments in early-stage companies. Grants will be given to startups that team up with veteran investors. The aim is to help seed-stage startups developing tech solutions in high-risk fields.

Jerusalem deputy mayor Fleur Hassan-Nahoum has established the UAE-Israel Business Council which works to create deals in fields including technology, medicine and agriculture. The council already has 3,000 members and a similar Bahrain-Israel organization is in the works.

Ariella Drefuss’ summary of 2020 shows that it was a very good year for Israeli tech. Good news for investments, secondary sales, IPOs, venture capital, Arab partnerships, Covid-19 solutions and women entrepreneurs. The only low was the number of Israeli exits – which does not sound like bad news to me!

Say goodbye to the troubles of 2020 and l’Hayim to a better year with the award-winning single malt whiskies from Israel’s Milk & Honey. And enjoy a laugh with the second video.

Israel’s Innovation Authority (IIA) is investing NIS 139 million in two new programs, the Human Capital Fund and the Emergency Training Program, to help the unemployed enter the Israeli tech ecosystem. It has selected 62 organizations to place 9,000 citizens in available hi-tech positions.