Israel Active

I reported previously about Israeli startup Weissbeerger and its technology to monitor beer taps in a bar. Weissbeerger has just been acquired by Anheuser-Busch InBev, the makers of Budweiser, Corona, and Stella Artois.

Israeli flavors and fine ingredients company Frutarom has just bought Israel’s IBR (Israeli Biotechnology Research) for $21 million – Frutarom’s 32nd acquisition since 2015. IBR produces active ingredients for cosmetics and dietary supplements.

Israel’s Ori Allon founded Compass in 2012. It has been reshaping the real estate market in the US with its algorithm-based platform. Having sold his Orion search algorithm to Google and his Julpan social analytics company to Twitter, Ori says that he will hold onto Compass this time.

Israel’s reserves of foreign currency jumped by a record $4.6 billion to a new high of $117.6 billion at the end of January, compared to the end of December.

Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s has reaffirmed Israel’s credit rating at its third highest “investment” grade, with a positive outlook. S&P praised Israel’s prosperous and diverse economy, strong external balance sheet, and flexible monetary framework.

Tourism to Israel is booming with hotel overnights by overseas tourists totaling 10.6 million in 2017 - 23% more than in 2016 and the highest since 2007. The nationwide hotel occupancy rate in 2017 was 67%, compared with 62% in 2016.

I’ve reported previously about Israel’s TaKaDu and its water-saving systems for water utilities. It has acquired new customers in Australia and its first one in Vietnam. Meanwhile, its first US customer Knoxville Utilities Board is already showing major benefits. Inspiring video.

Canadian and Israeli Transport Ministers have signed an expanded air transport agreement that will allow designated airlines to operate up to 19 passenger flights per week between the two countries (up from 12). Air Canada and Air Transat are launching or increasing services from Montreal and Toronto.

Israel’s 420 cybersecurity firms raised a record $814.5 million in 2017 – a massive 16% of global investment in cybersecurity and 28% more than in 2016. There were 14 exits totaling more than $1.4 billion. Several major international security companies opened Israeli R&D centers.

Jerusalem-based OurCrowd global equity crowdfunding platform has launched Cognitiv, a specialized $100 million global fund focused on early-stage companies in artificial intelligence (AI), deep learning, Internet of Things (IoT), robotics and digital manufacturing.