Israel Active

Samsung has signed a 25-year lease on 9,000-square-meters of office space in Tel Aviv’s Azrieli Town building. The six floors will accommodate 500 employees for the planned expansion of its research and development division in Israel. See for Samsung’s many activities in Israel.

I reported previously on the partnerships that Israeli connected car data startup Otonomo has made with Daimler/Mercedes, Skoda and Jaguar/Land Rover. Now Otonomo is to help the Avis Budget Group streamline its connected car fleet.

I reported previously on Israel’s NeuroSense, which is developing a treatment for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). NeuroSense has just raised NIS 4 million from over 1,100 backers in a crowdfunding campaign.

American Airlines is launching a non-stop service from Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas to Tel Aviv. The 3-flights-a-week operation will commence in Sep 2020 and will be American Airlines’ first direct service to Israel since 2015.

During the summer months, many Israeli hi-tech companies offer 10-week paid internship programs to the children of their employees. The students receive practical experience, while the company gets highly motivated temporary workers for little recruitment cost.

The number of Israelis moving abroad fell to the lowest level in more than three decades. Since 2002, emigration has fallen by half, from 27,300 emigrants in 2002 to 14,300 in 2017. Returning Israelis and new immigrants results in a net increase in Israel of over 22,000 citizens in 2017.

US software giant Salesforce.com has already acquired several Israeli startups and some 500 of their employees.  But its latest $1.35 billion takeover of Israel’s workforce management software startup Clicksoftware, and its 700 employees, dwarfs all of them.

I reported previously on Israeli-founded Corindus Vascular Robotics and its robotic-assisted medical devices for groundbreaking catheterizations. Now, German medtech company Siemens Healthineers is acquiring Corindus, and its 100 employees, for approximately $1.1 billion.

I reported previously on Israel’s Cybereason, which uses AI and big data analytics to protect a company’s endpoints. In two years, Cybereason has tripled its customer base and now protects 6 million endpoints. Japan’s Softbank has just led a $200 million investment in Cybereason.

I reported previously when Israel’s Flytrex began commercial food deliveries by drone to customers in Iceland.  Now, the US Federal Aviation Administration has given approval to Flytrex for a trial delivery of food by drone to residents in Holly Springs, North Carolina.