Israel Active

Intel Israel has selected 10 Israeli startups for the 3rd cohort of its Ignite TLV AI accelerator program (reported previously). They are , , Komodor, , , , , , and . Only and have been featured here previously.

Entrepreneur Erel Margalit and Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion launched Margalit Startup City, an international entrepreneurship and innovation quarter in the Israeli capital. The 50,000-sqm space will house startups, multinationals, investment and international R&D centers, plus an adjacent cultural and social center.

Israeli airline Arkia has begun offering tickets for daily direct flights between Tel Aviv and Dubai that will commence operation on 3rd Jan. The 3 to 4-hour flight will use Arkia’s 122-seat Embraer 195 jets. Arkia also investigating routes to Manama in Bahrain and Sharjah in the UAE.

The US, Israel and UAE have established the Abraham Fund. It aims to mobilize more than $3 billion in private sector-led investment and development initiatives, to promote regional economic cooperation and prosperity in the Middle East and beyond. Its development office will be based in Israel.

Yeshiva student Eli Rozenberg, son of Naftali, now officially controls Israel’s national airline El Al through his father’s company. Naftali is not an Israeli citizen (one of the ownership requirements for El Al) but his son is. Naftali’s company is Kanfei Nesharim - Hebrew for “The wings of eagles”.

Israel’s Zero Egg, developer of a vegan substitute for eggs (reported previously), has now launched in the US to food service operators and manufacturers. Zero Egg contains soy, potato, pea, and chickpea, is low fat, has no cholesterol, and just 15 calories compared to 65 for an actual egg.

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During the recent Israeli lockdown, only certain essential businesses can stay open. To avoid closure, some businesses have used creative “chutzpa”. A flower shop sells “agricultural products” and herbs. A falafel shop delivers to the closest bench. A clothing store sells fruit and veg.

Israel’s Curv (reported previously) has partnered French banking giant BNP Paribas to complete a proof of concept of Curv’s process for transferring security tokens securely between market participants.

At the peak of the coronavirus crisis, with businesses around the world paralyzed, Israeli application security company Checkmarx pulled off a massive $1.2 billion exit and maintained its independence in the process. Israeli founder and CTO, Maty Siman, explains.