Conference promotes profit and positive social impact
I reported previously on TechForGood, an Israel-based startup accelerator, that organized the Scaling Social-Tech conference – to promote the idea that companies can prioritize socially conscious goals and still be profitable.
Israel’s largest investors’ conference
10,000 people from 80 countries are expected in Jerusalem on 1st Feb at the 4th annual OurCrowd Global Investor Summit. They include 300 startups, 200 Venture Capitalists and 250 multinationals plus entrepreneurs, investors, government officials and the press.
A Chinese-German-Israeli biotech incubator
Explore Bio is a new incubator for Israeli biotech startups that will launch in 2018. Its parents are Merck Serona (a subsidiary of Germany’s Merck KGaA), in partnership with Shanghai’s WuXi AppTec.
Bibi opens the LSE
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched the day's trading at the London Stock exchange at 11am on Nov 3rd, pushing the button to officially open London's financial market. He recalled the first trade made by Abraham in purchasing the Cave of the Patriarchs 4,000 years ago, in shekels.
European finance backs Israeli tech
The European Investment Fund (EIF), with Israel’s Bank Leumi, have renewed their program offering loans to small and medium Israeli tech companies. Leumi can offer up to $200 million, with EIF guaranteeing the funds as part of Horizon 2020, the EU’s research and innovation program.
The largest cut in tariffs since the 1990s
Israel is to abolish customs and purchase taxes on a wide range of products, including electronics, cosmetics and toys. It will remove about a quarter of the total industrial tariffs in Israel – costing around NIS 800 million a year.
November tourism up 24%
355,900 tourist entries to Israel were recorded in Nov 2017, about 24% more than Nov 2016 and 70% more than Nov 2015. In the period Jan-Nov 2017, about 3.3 million tourist entries were recorded, a 25% increase on the same period last year.
87 foreign R&D centers since 2014
A total of 87 companies from 18 countries have opened offices in Israel since 2014 to pursue research and development or innovation, according to new report published by Start-Up Nation Central, a nonprofit organization that connects international businesses with Israeli startups.
Microsoft’s new Israel campus
Microsoft has completed a lease for its new campus in Herzliya Pituach. The company will rent the 10-story 44,000 square meter Sea Tower building currently under construction. On completion, Microsoft Israel will relocate its staff from several Herzliya Pituach locations to the new building.
WeWork goes large in Shanghai
Co-working real estate company WeWork, led by Israeli Adam Neumann, has leased an office building in Shanghai, where in 2018 it intends to open its largest co-working space to date. The ten-story building covers 27,000 square meters.