Israel Active

Tulsa, Oklahoma is seeking to help Israeli startups with remote hiring and US market entry. Tulsa has diversified from oil & gas into hi-tech. Its work from home (WFH) program “Remote” has attracted skilled professionals escaping from crowded coastal cities. Several Israeli startups have already moved in.

The expanded Free Trade Agreement between Israel and Ukraine (reported previously) will go into effect on 1st Jan 2021. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky praised the closer cooperation with Israel. “Relations between our countries are rising to a new level,” he wrote.

In January, the United Arab Emirates is to open an Educational Hebrew Institute in 4 locations in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Israelis will teach the Hebrew language and Israeli culture to acquaint local businesspeople with Israeli-style communication and cuisine in “a fun and interactive way.”

The Israeli Economy Ministry is investing some NIS 50 million in ventures to help businesses recover from the pandemic.  They include a crowdfunding platform that provides loans to small businesses and a company helping to establish an online trading platform for businesses.

The first Israel-Dubai conference focused on the prospects of a prosperous partnership between Israel and the UAE. The Emirates is a gateway for Israeli tech companies to expand to the Middle East. The 3-day conference had many inspiring presentations, of which these are just a sample.

Israel’s Qwilt (reported previously) has signed a substantial deal with entertainment giant Disney, just a month after a similar deal with British Telecom. Qwilt’s technology will be integrated into the Disney+ streaming service, which was launched in 2019 and now has more than 75 million subscribers.

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Israeli food-tech startup SavorEat (reported previously) brought in NIS 42.6 million (about $13 million) in an IPO on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE). It was the first time that a food-tech firm went public on the Israeli exchange.

Israeli startup Glue offers a loyalty management platform for small businesses. With Glue, each company can retain its customers using incentives such as coupons, loyalty cards, a points earning system, subscriptions, prepaid passes and even play-to-win games.

Israel’s Appsflyer became a Unicorn (value over $1 billion) in January. It is now worth $2 billion after an investment from Salesforce. Appsflyer integrates with Salesforce and Salesforce Ventures. Its marketing measurement platform was included in the Forbes 2020 Cloud 100 list for the 2nd year in a row.