Israel Active

One of Israel’s biggest cybersecurity companies, CyberArk, has just reported 2018 revenues of $343 million - 31% higher than 2017.  Its forecast for 2019 was even higher.

I reported previously on Israel’s Playbuzz which converts static (boring) website content into interactive “storybook” dialogs to engage with users. Yael Shafrir, Playbuzz VP of International Partnerships explains more on ILTV.

More business and sales have been conducted online than ever before, but buyers have been missing the human element. Dr. Amir Konigsberg, CEO & Founder of Israel’s Twiggle, has created a platform to serve customers more accurately and allow smaller vendors to compete with Amazon.

Israel’s Council for Higher Education has earmarked $120 million through 2022 for university programs that appeal to overseas students. In addition, a delegation of senior members of the CHE are to visit Jewish institutions in the US to publicize the initiative.

International Airlines Group (IAG) is the sixth largest in the world. It owns British Airways, Aer Lingus, Iberia, Vueling and LEVEL. IAG is teaming up with the UK Israel Tech Hub to host a pitch day for tech startups on 18th March in Tel Aviv.

Israeli venture capital fund Jerusalem Venture Partners has established a new $220 million fund to invest in early through mid-stage Israeli technologies. It will target healthcare, fintech, AI and cybersecurity, and has attracted investors from the US, France, Germany, Austria, Italy, the UK and Japan.

Google Cloud has signed an agreement to acquire Israel-based Alooma. Alooma’s platform lets companies stream and migrate their organizational data from multiple locations and sources into one single location in the Cloud.

In January and February combined, 683,000 visitors came to Israel, up 16% from the first two months of 2018.  Tourism Minister Yariv Levin said he expected that 2019 will continue the unprecedented surge in tourism.

Maybe it was all the Bamba bags in their stores that convinced Walmart to buy product review insight company Aspectiva - its first Israeli startup. Aspectiva’s artificial intelligence algorithms analyze product reviews and personalize the way that Walmart’s customers filter their searches.

Osem-Nestle has just opened a NIS 200 million new factory in Kiryat Gat that will double its production capacity and increase output of its iconic Bamba peanut snack to 1.5 million bags a day. Walmart has started stocking Bamba and other retail chains in the US and Europe are expected to follow.