Israel Active

Israel’s TIPA environmentally-friendly packaging is on display at London’s Future Fabrics expo (Jan 24), Berlin’s Fruit Logistica (Feb 6) and Nuremberg’s BIOFACH organic trade show (Feb 13).

I reported previously that Israel’s mPrest was adapting its Iron Dome technology to detect problems at US power plants. Now mPrest is implementing that technology and has partnered with top US energy utility Southern Company to enhance its systems.

Irish low-cost airline RyanAir launches three new routes from Tel Aviv this summer – to Athens, Bucharest and Sofia. RyanAir Tel Aviv will have 12 routes to Tel Aviv, plus another 15 to Eilat. CEO Michael O'Leary plans to bring millions more tourists to Israel.

Meir Cohen, an MBA candidate at Israel’s Bar-Ilan University, won the Capsim Challenge (Capstone league) competition to find who can best run a multi-million dollar simulated company. Bar-Ilan is the first college in Israel to incorporate advanced simulation in its studies.

At Tel Aviv’s Cybertech Conference (28-30 Jan) a delegation from the UK’s Midlands Cyber will showcase "Cyber Valley," the leading cyber hotspot in the UK. Israeli startups will be invited to join its BetaDen accelerator for developing and trialing applications on the new 5G network.

Israeli digital health fund aMoon II has raised $600 million to invest, mostly into mid-to-late-stage Israeli companies in the health and medical technologies field. Meanwhile, Israeli venture capital firm Magenta Venture Partners has launched a new $100 million fund destined for early-stage startups.

Visiting Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko hailed as “historic” the signing of a free trade agreement with Israel. The 1500-page agreement will reduce the prices of Ukrainian goods in Israel and vice-versa, plus allowing companies from Ukraine and Israel wider access to markets.

On 21 Jan, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu landed on the inaugural flight to open the new Ramon International Airport 10 miles north of Eilat in southern Israel. Ramon is set to handle 2 million passengers a year in 2020, rising to 4.2 million by 2030.

Israel has been named as one of 16 global “innovation champions” by leading American trade organization Consumer Technology Association (CTA). The CTA rankings evaluate countries based on 14 categories, including freedom, broadband, entrepreneurship and resiliency.

The 2018 record $6.4 billion investment in Israeli hi-tech companies included $1.89 billion for Artificial Intelligence, $1.2 billion into Life Sciences and $1.08 billion into Cybersecurity. Significantly, the fourth quarter was the strongest with $1.82 billion investments in Israeli-linked companies.