Israel Active

Just three months after acquiring Denver-based Juniper Labs, Israel’s Next Insurance is buying another US company - digital insurance agency AP Intego. The acquisition will double Next’s annual revenue to some $400 million, add 160 employees to its current 400 payroll and bring in 75,000 new customers.

The recent IVC report on the Israeli tech ecosystem from 2015 to 2020 reveals that Covid-19 hit the Startup Nation hard in the first half of 2020. But investments bounced back in the second half, so that 2020 investment in Israel exceeded 2019 by 31%.  And the key reasons were very encouraging.

Israel’s reserves of foreign currency reached another record level at the end of February. The total of just over $185 billion was $5.59 billion more than the total at the end of January.

Israel’s Labor and Welfare Ministry reports that due to the high number of workers in education and technology, 47% of Israel’s employees can perform their jobs from home. Israel is second only to Luxembourg for telecommuting and far ahead of the OECD average of 38%.

Website construction tools company Wix.com has become Israel’s most valuable company. Its market value of nearly $20 million tops that of Check Point, Solar Edge, Novocure, Nice Systems and Teva. Wix earned almost $1 billion in revenue in 2020 and, due to expansion, it is still not making a profit!

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Israel’s Medi-Tate (reported previously) has been acquired by Japanese medical corporation Olympus for $300 million. Olympus invested in Medi-Tate in 2018 and has been distributing Medi-Tate’s solutions for Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH).

US medical devices maker Boston Scientific has bought the surgical business of Israel-based Lumenis (reported previously) from Barings PE Asia for $1.07 billion. The unit will remain in Israel and become Boston Scientific’s global center of excellence in laser technologies.

Israel’s Axonius (reported previously) gives organizations a comprehensive cybersecurity asset inventory, uncovers security solution coverage gaps, and automatically validates and enforces security policies. Axonius has just raised $100 million for a $1 billion valuation and “Unicorn” status.

Fintech startup Earnix develops artificial intelligence software that allows banks and insurers to personalize offerings to customers. It has just raised $75 million at a company valuation of $1 billion giving it the financial status of a “Unicorn”. Earnix has won recognition from both CB Insights and P&C 360.