Israel Active

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.

Israeli defense contractor Rafael (makers of Iron Dome) has bought Israeli drone manufacturer Aeronautics for an estimated NIS 850 million.

US retail tech giant Amazon is acquiring Israeli storage technology startup E8 Storage for an estimated $50-60 million. E8 Storage develops flash storage installations based on software, which E8 Storage say are cheaper than current hardware solutions, but ten times faster.

Israel’s Monday.com is used by 350,000 people in 80,000 organizations, from 76 countries to manage and track projects, manufacturing lines, and schedules. It has just raised $150 million, valuing the company at nearly $2 billion and making it a Unicorn. So how is it that I’ve never reported on it?  I need Monday.com!

I reported previously on the reduced sugar juice technology of Israel’s Better Juice. Better Juice has since won a 50,000 Euro grant from the EU’s Horizon 2020 program and is setting up a pilot plant thanks to Brazil’s Citrosuco, the world’s largest orange juice producer.