Israel Active

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Israeli venture capital fund Red Dot Capital Partners has raised nearly $200 million for its second fund that invests in late-stage companies. Red Dot launched its first fund in 2016, raising $151 million.

Israeli cybersecurity startup foundry Team8 (reported previously) has launched its Venture Capital arm. It has raised another $104 million to invest in startups working in the fields of data, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and enterprise technologies.

Israel’s state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) had a record $1 billion in sales in Q1 2020. Exports accounted for 71% of sales. Its backlog of orders was over $13 billion. There had been little if any cancelations of contracts or major delays resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The OurCrowd Pandemic Innovation Conference on June 22 will explore the latest technological solutions to the coronavirus crisis, including vaccination, treatment, diagnostics and prevention of the disease. Thousands of investors from 100+ countries are expected to attend online.

May was an excellent month for those stores in shopping centers and malls that reopened after lockdown. Their average sales rose 21% in May 2020 compared with May 2019 according to data from Retail Information Systems, which took figures from 2,850 stores across Israel.

Israel’s reserves of foreign currency rose by a record $9 billion in May to reach a new record total of $142.5 billion.

Sweden’s Innovation Agency, Vinnova, is partnering Israeli non-profit Startup Nation Central to promote innovative R&D projects. Called “Connector”, it will have a 2 million Euro budget for companies and academic institutions to engage in co-development.

Israel’s $2 billion annual trade with South Korea is set to surge. Covid-19 infections are low in both countries and Korea’s digital and green “New Deals” plus its K-Startup Grand Challenge will attract Israeli innovators. Samsung, Hyundai, LG etc. already partner many Israeli companies.

E-Commerce giant Alibaba has launched Alibaba.com Freight to help American companies dispatch their goods by sea and air. It uses technology from Israel’s Freightos (reported previously), which compare prices and manages shipments in real time.