Israel Active

The Psagot Winery in Samaria has begun exporting and marketing Israeli wine to the city of Guangzhou in southern China, with a population of over 13 million people. Psagot Winery produces more than 350,000 bottles annually of which 70% is exported.

Israeli airline Arkia Airlines is to begin a direct weekly flight to India’s Goa state and twice-weekly to the city of Cochin (Kochi) in Kerala state. Flight times are around seven hours and will commence in September after the end of the monsoon season.

Armani Beauty, the beauty brand of Italian fashion house Giorgio Armani, is reportedly to open a store in Tel Aviv's Ramat Aviv Mall. The shop will offer cosmetics, skincare products and fragrances. Chanel is also opening in Ramat Aviv Mall and in the TLV Gindi Mall.

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.