Israel Active

Global payments giant PayPal is setting up a new customer service center in Israel. It will replace its current operation, run by an external company in Bulgaria. PayPal already has a Research & Development center in Tel Aviv with 230 employees.

I reported previously when Israeli-founded cybersecurity company SentinelOne raised $70 million of funds. It has just raised another $120 million, to join the ranks of “Unicorn” companies – those worth around $1 billion.

Israel’s MindSpace is opening a new 4,125 square meters co-working location at the Rogovin Tidhar Tower in Ramat Gan, Tel Aviv. It will accommodate 640 people who want shared office facilities. It will be MindSpace’s 29th site, which includes in the US, UK and Germany.

Mitsubishi Corporation, Japan's largest trading company, has opened an innovation center in Tel Aviv. The center will help Mitsubishi scout for Israeli companies and technologies in its core areas of interest, including automotive and smart mobility.

I reported previously about Alexander’s Gaza Border Beer, made from wheat that had survived the Gaza fires.  The beer and its campaign were so popular, that it sold more in one week than Alexander normally sells in six months.  The video also won an International “Webby” award.

Tel Aviv restaurant Joz Ve Loz is very unusual. You tell the server your likes and dislikes and you are brought a stream of dishes to eat or refuse. At the end of the meal, you assess its value and pay accordingly.  No tipping.

US cybersecurity giant Palo Alto Networks (a $20 billion Israeli-founded company) has bought Israeli-founded cloud security company Twistlock for “several hundreds of millions of dollars”. Twistlock maintains an Israeli research and development operation in Herzliya.

I’ve reported previously on Israeli live broadcasting and streaming startup LiveU. The company has just been acquired for $200 million in a joint takeover by US Francisco Partners and Tel Aviv’s Israel Growth Partners (IGP). LiveU will continue its Israeli operation.

Israeli giant Elbit’s revenue for the first quarter of 2019 amounted to just over $1 billion. The company completed the takeover of the Israeli Government’s IMI Systems in November.

My last report on Israel’s Supercom was when it won a big contract to build an e-Passport system in Iceland.  Since then it has won contracts in Kentucky, Idaho, North and South Carolina, Africa, Texas, Sweden, Minnesota, Europe, Southern Georgia and Tennessee.