Israel Active

Community-based non-profit “Made in Jerusalem” puts on end-of-month “happy hours”, uniting entrepreneurs, job seekers, funders and hi-tech supporters. The October event featured Glide, CareNav, uChange, MatchLynx, Talklet and Leadlike. Later, a Tech &Torah session took place.

Ambassador Yoram Ettinger writes that Israeli hi-tech companies raised $1.19 billion during Q3 2016, the second highest quarterly amount in ten years. In the first nine months of 2016, Israeli hi-tech companies raised $4 billion, 27% higher than the same period in 2015.

Israel exported 60,000 tons of avocados in 2015. Demand is even higher this year and 70% of this year’s 100,000-ton yield is earmarked for export, shipped in refrigerated containers to reach Europe in 4-5 days. Varieties include Ettinger, Pinkerton, Hass, Fuerte, Reed, Galil, Lavi and Moti.

Israeli crop protection company Adama Agricultural Solutions is to be sold by its Chinese owner ChemChina to a firm it controls. The new owner, Hubei Sanonda, is paying about 18.6 billion yuan ($2.8 billion) for Adama, which has 4% of the Chinese agrochemical market.

Ambassador Ettinger also reports the acquisitions of Israeli companies EndoChoice for $210 million, BlazeMeter for $100 million, FireLayers for $55 million and Corrigon for $30 million.

The Bank of Israel’s Companies Survey for the third quarter of 2016 indicates that, further to the previous quarter, the business sector grew rapidly. The positive picture is reflected in all the large industries - manufacturing, services, trade, transport and communications.

Business Insider has rounded up the 15 highest ranked countries in the world for innovation, based on the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report on the state of the world’s economies.  Based on this, tiny Israel is ranked second in the world!

Israel’s “everything at 5-shekels” coffee shops are about to take Russia by storm.  Moscow’s first Cofix charges just 50 rubles for any menu item. The average price for a cup of coffee in Russia is 200 rubles (245 rubles at Starbucks). Cofix plans to open 1000 Russian shops.

Samsung Global Innovation Center has opened a “NEXT” branch in Tel Aviv to invest in Israeli early-stage technologies and software developers. The South Korean conglomerate has set up similar offices in South Korea, San Francisco and New York in order to stay ahead of competition.

Chinese IT corporation Neusoft and Israeli-Chinese private equity fund Infinity Group are jointly to set up a $250 million fund to invest in Israeli medical technologies over the next three years. They will also provide access to Chinese clients and the Chinese equivalent of the US FDA.