Israel Active

Israeli startup vCita claims to have everything a small business needs. Appointments, customer relationships, payments and marketing. And a very effective customer-friendly web app interface. With around 100,000 clients, vCita has raised $15 million of funds to grow itself.

Some positive statistics about Israel’s economy. Israeli exports rose 3% to NIS 55 billion in the first half of 2019, despite the shekel’s continuing appreciation in value. Exports to Europe increased by 12% and 30% of all exports were hi-tech.

I’ve reported previously on Israeli-founded Via Transportation and its ride-sharing technology.  Now, Via is licensing its technology to the New York City Department of Education for its school bus system. Routes can be adapted to kids’ needs and GPS tracking benefits parents and students.

Israel’s IceCure Medical has signed an agreement with Japan’s Terumo for the rights to sell the Israeli cryoablation cancer treatment in Japan and Singapore. IceCure’s ultrasound-guided probe injects liquid nitrogen into a tumor, to freeze and destroy the cancer cells.

Anglo Media has acquired English-language Israeli media platform Janglo.net and entered into a partnership with Torah Tidbits. Janglo is Israel’s largest online community for English speakers, receiving some 150,000 visits per month. It also posts the VeryGoodNewsIsrael newsletter.

Cybersecurity “Black Unicorns”. Cyber Defense Magazine’s 10 winners of its 2019 Black Unicorn Awards, include three Israeli companies. Checkmarx, XM Cyber and ObservIT. According to Cyber Defense, they all have the potential to reach $1 billion market valuation and be termed a “Unicorn”.

Payments giant Visa has partnered with three Israeli fintech companies through its startup collaboration lab, Innovation Studios. They are ChargeAfter (instant credit), Mesh Payments (online cross-border transaction service) and Zooz (payment platform).

I reported previously on Israeli computer vision startup Cortica. Now, BMW and Toyota’s investment arms, together with Israel’s OurCrowd are partnering with Cortica to launch Cartica - a subsidiary that will develop Artificial Intelligence for autonomous vehicles.

Amazon has given Israeli retailers a 12th Sep date for the launch of its service in Israel. It has urged registered retailers to ready their stock and product list, advising them to prioritize products that could be popular ahead of the Jewish New Year commencing 29th September.

The consortium operating Israel's largest gas field Leviathan is in advanced talks to sell its natural-gas condensate – worth some $1 billion over the 35-year life of the field. The gas production by-product can be used as a raw material in the production of greener fuel or as a diluent for oil.