Israel Active

I reported previously that Israeli co-working real estate company Mindspace had opened business in a sixth country (the Netherlands). It didn’t take long for Mindspace to move into a seventh country – it has just leased 3 offices in Bucharest, Romania.

I reported previously about multinational bank Barclays and its financial startup accelerator. Barclays has just initiated the 3rd cycle of its RISE program, now mentoring 10 startups from Israel and overseas.

I reported previously on Israeli startup Tevva Motors and its UK-based electric trucks that use Israeli submarine technology. Auto component giant Bharat Forge has just invested $13 million in the company, aiming to bring the concept to India.

I previewed Innovate Israel 2018, hosted by UK Israel Business (UKIB) on 3rd July. The 15 Israeli startups covered the areas of artificial intelligence (AI), vison enhancement, drones, big data, cybersecurity, marketing technologies and nanosatellites.

The Shanghai Diamond Exchange has agreed with the Israel Diamond Exchange to transfer the processing of large stones to Israel. Many Chinese diamond processing companies may transfer some of their processing to Israel and some Chinese diamond cutters will relocate to central Israel.

The US and Israel have agreed mutual visa arrangements for potential investors to visit each other’s country. The US E-2 Investor visa and the Israeli B-5 equivalent are to be launched imminently.

The Mexican Soccer Federation (FMF) and the Liga MX, the top tier of Mexican soccer, have agreed a deal with Israeli automated sports production company Pixellot. Pixellot’s coaching systems will be deployed at all 18 clubs in the Liga MX, as well as their respective youth academies.

I reported previously that the US Army had installed Israel’s Trophy Windbreaker active defense system on some of its Abrams tanks. Tests of the system were so successful that the US Army is now buying another $193 million worth of Windbreakers.

Peru’s Fitel has awarded Israel’s Gilat Satellite Networks another two regional telecoms projects. The Amazonas project is worth $108 million and the Ica project worth $45.6 million. Previous projects won by Gilat in Peru have been worth nearly $400 million.

Israel’s Incentives Solutions markets the Sales Performance Management platform “Joopy”.  Its features include incentive schemes, analytics and interface to payroll systems. Clients include Nestle, Coca Cola, AIG, Phoenix Insurance, Orange and Teva.