Israel Active

The US subsidiary of Israel’s Elbit Systems has signed a new contract to provide night-vision goggles to the U.S. Army for $22.5 million, with a potential value of $442 million. The goggles provide vision up to 300 meters - double the range of previous versions.

Twelve Israeli-founded companies were among 100 startups in Forbes Magazine’s “The Cloud 100”, ranking the world’s top private cloud companies. The list “recognizes standouts in tech’s hottest category, from small startups to private-equity-backed giants”.

Japanese asset management firm Aristagora Advisors has launched a new venture capital fund Aristagora VC dedicated to investment in early-stage Israeli startups. The $60 million fund will focus on deep tech companies and will initially invest up to $1.5 million in each startup.

Four new startups will join Visa’s Tel Aviv innovation studio (reported previously). GetHere (personalized ordering & payment); Spendl (payment by cryptocurrency); Pinch (debit card swipe fee distributor); GoGo Getter (affordable childcare financing).

The UAE-Israel peace deal is not just for political reasons. The Gulf state seeks Israel’s innovative technology and solutions. Food-tech and agri-tech are the top priorities as the UAE imports more than 90 percent of its food and the pandemic has disrupted transportation of vital supplies.

A Unicorn is the business term for a company that is worth more than one billion dollars. There are currently 41 Israeli-founded private companies worth $1 billion or more. 14 are based in Israel. With a population of just 8.9 million, that comes to 1.58 unicorns per (100,000) capita, making Israel No. 1 in the world.

The Europe-Asia Pipeline Co has signed an agreement with the Med-Red company to convey UAE oil from Eilat to Ashkelon. It will save shipping the oil through the Suez Canal, benefiting the Israeli economy economically and cementing strategic joint Israeli-Arab relationships.

Israel’s AquaMaof Aquaculture Technologies (reported previously) has won a $90 million contract to build an on-land salmon farm in Reno, Nevada. Producing up to 60,000 tons of fish per year without the use of chemicals or antibiotics, it will be one of the largest salmon farms in the U.S.

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Israel’s Novawind has organized a virtual conference “Europe Days 2020” (27 Oct). It aims to give companies in Germany, Switzerland and Austria access to the tech solutions of at least 200 innovative Israeli companies, to help them overcome the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.