Israel Active

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.

Israel’s Innovation Authority and Ministry of Communications are to fund five Israeli companies a total of NIS 12.5 million to conduct pilots using 5G technology. They are Monogoto, Telicomm City Connect, , Edgehawk Security and JpU.  

Israel and Croatia signed a Memorandum of Understanding establishing a strategic partnership between the Foreign Affairs ministries, aiming to promote political and economic cooperation and strengthen relations in areas of mutual interest.

Israel's 250 flower growers sent 10 million flowers to European and Scandinavian flower markets during December in preparation for the holiday season. Israeli flowers are sought after for their high quality and long shelf life, the results of Israeli research and innovation.

Israel’s Aura Smart Air has signed a $30 million deal with Japanese distributor J-TEC to supply the Japanese market with its air filtration and disinfection systems. It is hoped that the air purifiers can help re-open Japan’s 100,000 karaoke bars, closed due to Covid-19.

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Israeli-founded 10bis (reported previously) is now owned by Dutch company Just Eat Takeaway, but still based in Israel. The Covid-19 pandemic has increased demand for meal card and food delivery services and 10bis is recruiting to double staff numbers at its Tel Aviv R&D center.

Good article listing some of Israel’s recent business changes. They include Credit card PIN codes, contactless payments, contactless ATMs, home delivery and … the wearing of face masks!