Israel Active

El Al announced, during the IMTM International Tourism Exhibition in Tel Aviv, that it is to launch direct flights to Orlando, Florida in the summer of 2019.  Tickets for the 13.5-hour Tel Aviv and 12-hour Orlando return night flights will go on sale shortly for a discounted price.

Israeli startup Tastewise can transform the strategy and decision-making of companies in the food business with its real-time industry data and predictive analytics. Tastewise is currently focused on the vast US market, but plans to expand, including to Israel where its R&D operations are based.

I reported previously that US cybersecurity giant Symantec had bought its 3rd Israeli company.  It’s now acquired a 4th – Luminate, for a reported $200 million - to “further extend… the power of Symantec’s Integrated Cyber Defense Platform”

The semi-final of Trifecta, a $1 million startup competition, will be held during Calcalist’s 3rd annual Mind the Tech Conference, in New York on April 10-12. The final will be in Israel in June where the $1 million investment will be awarded by Israel-based firm Pitango Venture Capital.

I reported previously that Israeli-founded Selina was looking at possible sites in Tel Aviv to open boutique hospitality hostels. It has now announced that it will open the first of its Tel Aviv facilities this summer.  Selina currently has 10,000 beds at 44 sites in Latin America and Portugal.

Intel appointed seven Israeli executives to Vice President positions in its global operations, bringing the number of Israelis in these senior posts to nearly 20 of its 150 global VPs.

Israeli startup Inokim is to launch its Leo electric scooter sharing service in Tel Aviv in March. It will initially operate 500 scooters, increasing to 3,000 by May. The service will then be expanded to Haifa and Eilat with 10,000 scooters by the end of 2019.

At the Asian Financial Forum 2019 in Hong Kong, Israeli entrepreneur Jon Medved said that tiny Israel develops technology solutions and China provides for a massive scale-up of operations. An example is Israeli ag-tech, which increases food production for everyone.

Israel’s foreign exchange reserves at the end of Jan 2019 climbed to a new record of $118.151 billion, up $2.872 billion from the end of Dec 2018,

Following a record number of visitors in 2018, Israel’s popularity as a tourist destination continues. 285,000 tourists entered Israel in January 2019 - an 11% increase on January 2018, and a 35% increase on January 2017.