Gluten-free vegan chocolate
Israel’s Carmit Candy Industries launched its new vegan “milk” chocolate snacks, coins and buttons at the Natural Product Expo West, Anaheim USA. The product line is fully dairy-free, gluten-free and has no artificial colorings, flavorings or preservatives - addressing most allergy concerns.
Pension policy selection for Aviva customers
Israeli startup HiBob is developing a computer system for UK insurance giant Aviva, whose market cap is $20 billion. The system allows small and medium-sized businesses to simplify the establishment of a pension plan for their employees.
Tel Aviv Uni is a startup start-up
Accounting software giant Sage has ranked Tel Aviv University eighth in the world for training the founders of so-called unicorns - startup firms worth more than $1 billion. Tel Aviv alumni have founded seven such companies, including ForeScout, ironSource and Conduit.
Flights to New Delhi
I reported previously that Air India was commencing flights between Tel Aviv and Mumbai. They have just announced a new service to New Delhi, commencing in May. Air travel between India and Israel increased by 22.8% in 2016 to 158,000 passengers.
Investment treaty with Japan
Israeli Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon and Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida signed a bilateral investment treaty, in another move to strengthen diplomatic and trade ties between the two nations.
Global Venture Capital slowdown – but not in Israel
Venture capital investments in Israel last year bucked the downward trend elsewhere because (a) realistic values of Israeli companies; (b) Israel’s focus on frontier technologies; (c) the growth in Israel of late stage funding rounds; (d) a new influx of Asian capital.
Currency reserves continue to rise
Israel’s foreign exchange reserves at the end of Feb stood at $102 billion - an increase of $420 million from their level at the end of Jan, and another all-time record.
Economy grew by 4% last year
Israel's economy grew 4% in 2016, up from 2.5% in 2015. Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics published revised figures, showing GDP growth in the fourth quarter was 6.5%.
1.2 billion downloads
I’ve reported previously on Israeli kids’ games publisher TabTable. In its six years, it has become one of the leading children's games companies in the Apple and Google apps stores with 1.2 billion downloads of its software.
$150 million for environment tech
Chinese investment fund Blueconomy Center has raised $150 million for investing in marine and environmental technologies in Israel. The fund aims to help Israeli companies expedite their entry into the Chinese market and is in advanced negotiations for investments in four Israeli companies.