Israel Active

Israel has leapt eight places to number sixteen in the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report 2017-2018. It is the top country in the Middle East and is ahead of Australia, France, China, Spain and Russia. Israel was 3rd in the Innovation category and 7th in Technological Readiness.

Israel’s leading crowdfunding platform OurCrowd has formed a strategic partnership with Cardumen Capital, a Spanish-Israeli venture capital fund to help Spanish investors to invest in Israeli companies and joint Israeli-Spanish technology. In June, OurCrowd formed a strategic partnership with LetsVenture, India’s largest marketplace for startup funding.

I’ve reported previously on the non-toxic pesticide from Israel’s EdenShield which repels pests with its aroma. Edenshield sells in Israel, Spain, Italy, Turkey and Greece and has just raised $2 million to help fund its expansion into the USA, Mexico and the EU.

I reported previously on Israel’s Enlivex and its Allocetra / Apocell treatment to prevent Graft vs Host Disease – a common problem after bone marrow transplants.  Elivex has just received $8 million of funding which will help it progress to Phase 3 trials.

I reported previously on Israel’s Itamar Medical and its WatchPat Sleep Apnea monitoring device. Itamar has just received a purchase order for an undisclosed amount of WatchPAT devices from the famous US Mayo Clinic for the next 3-years.

I reported that Cathay Pacific has begun its 4-days-a-week service between Tel Aviv and Hong Kong.  The route has obviously proved so popular that the airline has increased the frequency to daily.

I reported previously on Israel’s Phytech and its innovative crop sensors that boost agriculture productivity. Phytech has seen phenomenal growth and has just raised $11 million to support its worldwide deployment.

Five Israeli startups have been selected for the first class of a new startup accelerator in Beijing, funded by Israel’s Ministry of Economy and Industry. China’s ShengJing Group (one of the world's largest private equity fund of funds) will provide free professional services to the startups.

SAP, the German multinational software corporation, has acquired Israel-founded Gigya, one of the market leaders in customer identity and access management, for an estimated $350 million. Gigya’s web identity software is used by more than 700 of the world’s leading businesses.

Israeli biotech CureTech developed pidilizumab cancer treatment which was sold to US biotech Medivation which the giant Pfizer took over last year. Pidilizumab is an orphan treatment (for rare brain stem cancer) and of no commercial interest to Pfizer. So CureTech has bought it back.