Israel Active

Israeli school admin staff are returning to work in advance of schools reopening. They will be subject to Health Ministry guidelines. It is a major step towards allowing parents to return to work. Special education classes have already reopened.

Israel’s BATM is already busy producing COVID-19 testing kits (reported previously). Now, it has received a $31 million order from an unnamed European country, for 1000 ventilators to be delivered between June and September.

El Al's cargo department has signed a deal to operate 150 cargo flights from China to Italy, carrying medical equipment to help battle coronavirus. El Al will operate two flights daily between April and October using converted 777 planes and Dreamliners.

Israeli global investment platform Ourcrowd held a webinar on how Israel’s Government, healthcare and technology startups are combating the coronavirus. It featured PulmOne, SightDX and MigVax. Some 1000 medical, media and investment professionals attended. And me. See the slides here.

The Israeli Innovation Authority (IIA), the government's tech investment arm, is making available NIS 500 million for Israeli startups that have a good chance of succeeding in the long run, but are currently suffering from a shortage in funding and need immediate investment.

This week Israeli startups InnovoPro raised , Granulate raised , Orchestra raised , MyndYou raised , Arti raised , and Gauzy raised some .

The previous newsletter stated that Israel’s treasury sold $5 billion in long-term bonds to help alleviate the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic. In fact, the issue was so oversubscribed, that a record $25 billion was raised, highlighting international confidence in Israel’s economy.

Israel has issued NIS 22 million of its NIS 50 million fund for Israeli startups countering the coronavirus. They include NEAT Applied Technologies (air flow in ventilators), Ezmems (sensors for ventilators) and NanoScent (scent detection of infection).

Despite the economic crisis, Israel’s Vast Data has raised ; raised ; raised ; raised . raised ; raised ; raised and raised .

ViacomCBS Networks International (VCNI), owner of MTV, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon, has taken over Israel’s pay TV channel provider Ananey Communications. The two companies will also set up Gazella - a new fund focusing its investment on Israeli media and tech-related businesses.