Israel Active

Jerusalem Venture Partners (JVP) is offering $1 million to the winner of “The New York Play” competition for startups wishing to move between New York and Israel. Specialty areas include AI, big data, cyber, fintech, mobile, storage, cloud tech, IoT, media, agritech and digital health.

There are over 250 retail technology startups operating in Israel currently. Jerusalem Venture Partners (JVP), Nielsen Innovate Fund (NIF), Deloitte and The Shelf have published a map of the Israeli retail technology landscape, featuring the sector’s 100 “most promising startups.”

Israeli human tissue repair company CollPlant is shortly to list on NASDAQ. Collplant uses tobacco plant DNA to develop and manufacture collagen-based regenerative medical treatments and bio-ink used in 3D printing of human tissues and organs.

Israel’s InSightec’s MRI-focused ultrasound is curing patients of tremors, prostate cancer and fibroids. It has just raised $150 million of funding.

In addition to the WaterGen – Tata pilot, at least eight other projects began during the Israeli PM’s visit to India. They include Israel’s Phinergy and Ashok Leyland for energy from aluminum-air batteries. And the Israel Electric Company with Andhra Pradesh state, for critical infrastructure.

Israel’s 2019 budget has just been approved. It includes large increases in spending on education ($18 billion), welfare ($13 billion) and healthcare ($11 billion).

In 2015 there were 47,000 Chinese visitors to Israel, which the Israel Tourism Ministry wanted to double by 2018. It has smashed that target already, with 113,000 Chinese visiting Israel in 2017.

More than 50 Israeli wineries, together with international brands, were displayed in the “Sommelier 2018” exhibition in Tel Aviv. Israel’s largest annual wine event is normally just for industry professionals, but this year it opened to the public during the evenings.

Israeli venture fund Jerusalem Venture Partners has launched JVP Play. It aims to connect Israeli startups, developing artificial intelligence (AI) and deep learning solutions, with major retail and financial services such as Tesco, Microsoft, Barclays and Deloitte.

One of Britain’s largest investment management firms, Schroders plc, announced that it is opening offices in Tel Aviv in response to growing demand from clients. Schroders has been active in Israel for about a decade but has been working from its London headquarters until now.