Israel Active

In 2012, electronic giant Cisco Systems bought Israeli video software company NDS for $5 billion. Cisco is now focusing on core business and has sold the NDS unit back to its original controlling shareholder Permira Holdings for $1 billion.  NDS’ original CEO Abe Peled will become its new Chairman.

Chinese business magnate and investor Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba arrived in Israel with a delegation of 35 people. He is to receive an honorary doctorate at Tel Aviv University and tour the country. Alibaba has invested in several Israeli companies and is opening offices in Tel Aviv.

I reported previously on Israel’s Hargol which aims to solve the world’s protein shortage with its farmed grasshoppers. Hargol already received $5 million worth of orders from customers in the U.S. and Europe and interest from Ikea, Whole Foods, Diego (Guinness) and Pepsico.

Israel’s Arko Holdings has completed a complex deal for the purchase and lease of 267 US fuel stations and convenience store sites, including E-Z Mart. Arko’s GPM subsidiary now controls 1,224 sites and fuels another 138 stations in 22 states – the US’s 5th largest operator.

A delegation of 300 international Kauffman Fellows to their Annual Summit is the largest contingent of global VCs ever to come to Israel as a group. The venture capitalists represent the likes of Microsoft, Intel, Google, BlackRock etc. and are invested in some 500 startups.

Ambassador Yoram Ettinger compares Israel’s situation now to that earlier in its history.  The statistics are quite staggering. Population, GDP, employment, national debt, exports, foreign investment, inflation, life expectancy, women in work and much more.

Promotion video for a new book “Israel - Island of Success” by Noga Kainan and Adam Reuter. It asks and answers questions such as, “Why is Israel a success?”, “Is this success sustainable?” and “What is Israel's probable future? “

Israeli life-sciences venture capital firm aMoon Partners has raised $200 million for a new fund aMoon II that will invest in digital health life-science companies. The final target for the fund is $500 million. The $200 million fund, aMoon I, was set-up two years ago and is invested in 16 startups.

Air France – KLM subsidiary Transavia Airlines is to fly twice weekly during the winter months from Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport to Ovda, north of Eilat. 17,700 Dutch tourists entered Israel in the first quarter of 2018 – a 37% increase on 2017 and 80% up on 2016.

Israel’s Frutarom is setting up FoodNxt, a lab for startups and ventures specializing in food innovation to address obesity and diabetes, to find protein alternatives, natural, healthy foods and more. The lab in Migdal HaEmek will provide financing, advanced equipment, and a support team.