Israel Active

Israeli-founded urban mobility company Moovit now has over half a billion users of its popular public transportation application in 3,000 cities, 94 countries and 45 languages. It helps transits and commutes thanks to partnerships with major multinationals including Uber, Microsoft, and Waze.

Russian airline Azimuth only began operations in 2017. Already it has begun a direct service to Tel Aviv from the West Russian city of Rostov. It also intends to inaugurate two new routes between Ben Gurion Airport and southwestern Russian cities Krasnodar and Mineralnye Vody in 2020.

According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, Israeli property prices rose between January and August 2019 by an average of only 2% and new properties fell by 4.8%. Prices also fell in 2018, following an 80% rise over the previous decade. 2019 construction starts (52,000) was on target.

Israeli investment fund Nielsen Innovate launched its incubator in 2012 and by 2015 has 10 startups in Caesarea . It now has 33 Israeli companies in its portfolio and is investing $5 million to bring another five into the incubator.  

Tel-Aviv based Crescendo Venture Partners is setting up a new VC fund of $80 to $100 million to invest in early-stage hi-tech Israeli startups that can transform traditional areas (education, agriculture, construction, healthcare etc.). Swiss-based Crescendo Group manages over $3 billion globally.

As reported previously, Israel’s Indegy protects the systems of vital infrastructure companies. Nasdaq-listed cybersecurity giant Tenable Holdings has just acquired Indegy for $78 million in cash and will set up a development center in Israel following the deal.

Elchanan Bread Bakery in Kibbutz Mishmarot turns leftover baked goods into bread pudding and granola. It also donates stale bread to nearby kibbutzim for animal feed. In its latest process it mixes excess sourdough bread with malt and hot water to make a red ale with an alcohol content of 5%.

July saw the first meeting, in Cairo, of the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum, comprising Egypt, Cyprus, Greece, Italy, the Palestinian Authority and – yes – Israel. These two articles suggest that the EMGF is already transforming the geopolitics of the region.

Intel has acquired Tel Aviv-based artificial intelligence chip developer Habana Labs Ltd. for $2 billion. It is Intel’s second-largest acquisition of an Israeli company. Habana Labs develops processors optimized for artificial intelligence applications.

Israel-based software testing company Qualitest has bought Israel-based data analysis and machine learning company AlgoTrace. The companies have been working together for over a year. Qualitest says the purchase will enable it to rapidly increase the number of AI-based testing products it offers.