Israel Active

Israel’s Composite State of the economy index increased by another 0.3% in November.  There were significant increases in imports of inputs, also in industrial production, in retail trade and in October’s services revenue.

Swedish retail giant IKEA currently has mega stores at Netanya, Rishon Lezion, Kiriyat Ata (near Haifa) and Beersheva .  It now plans to open a fifth - in the small community of Eshtaol, near Beit Shemesh, west of Jerusalem. The new branch is set to open in early 2020.

KPMG Fintech has chosen Israel’s Binah.ai as a technology partner, supplying its out-of-the-box, data science-based use cases to predict trends, FX rates, profits, risks etc. KPMG Global Fintech comprises professionals in more than 45 hubs around the world. (KPMG at Israeli conference.)

I reported previously on Israel’s Gong.io which uses AI to analyze sales conversations and help train sales and customer service staff. Gong.io has just won Calcalist’s and Microsoft’s second annual artificial intelligence and big data startup competition.

Israel’s Tigbur is a recruitment agency that specializes in both the hi-tech and the homecare sectors. It also supplies security guards and cleaners. See Tigbur’s CEO Orit Benbenisti on ILTV.

The blockchain platform of Israel’s Securitize allows investors and issuers to manage their digital securities from one convenient dashboard. It ensures the digital securities can be traded compliantly across all marketplaces and exchanges. See Securitize’s CEO Carlos Domingo on ILTV.

I’ve reported previously on Israel’s Gilat Satellite Networks. Gilat has just won a multi-million-dollar contract from Japanese government agency LASCOM, for its SkyEdge II-c platform, to maintain government communications to its people in any disaster event.

2771 startups from 132 countries entered the UN’s World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) competition. The 10 finalists include 4 Israeli startups. They are Pruvo Net, SeeVoov (GoBeenThere), Howazit () and Refundit ..

I reported previously on Israeli start-up Credifi which collects data about commercial property, for fund managers, brokers. lenders etc. to make decisions. Senior MD Jason Rausman explains more about the system and company culture on ILTV.

I reported previously that Israeli cybersecurity specialists Checkmarx had bought a UK software company. It has now bought Custodela, an Ontario-based software security company. Israel continues to improve its global position in cybersecurity.