Israel Active

Global digital investment platform, OurCrowd, has approved the first 8 investments from its $50 million Resilience Fund (see previously). The companies include , , , and .

Businesses such as fashion store chain Castro had put 30% of its 4,500 employees on unpaid leave in October due to falling sales at the outbreak of the war. Castro has now re-engaged 90% of those furloughed staff, as shoppers have been coming back to its stores and online sales have also started to recover.

Microsoft is one of 370 multinationals with development centers in Israel. It has some 2,700 employees and earned a whopping NIS 3.5 billion for Microsoft in 2023. The Israeli R&D team has just announced its new real time automatic attack disruption security platform that took two years to develop.

Israeli President Herzog is to pardon monetary fines for war-affected families who face severe financial hardship. The scheme was advanced in response to Druze leader Sheikh Muafak Tarif’s request during Herzog’s visit to bereaved families in the Druze and Bedouin communities.

Volcani Partners International has launched a $50 million emergency fund to rebuild farming communities near the Gaza border badly damaged on Oct. 7. The “ReGrow Israel” initiative will help fund replacement of vital equipment and infrastructure needed to rehabilitate soil and replant crops.  (site with more details, including how to donate)

Israel’s Rafael is recruiting 2,000 employees and has been flooded with job applications, including ex-CEOs, giant corporations, and retirees seeking to return to work. Rafael developed the Iron Dome, Trophy tank protection, David’s Sling, and many more innovative defensive systems.

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Israel’s is acquiring Canada’s Hivestack for in cash.

Israeli “no-fish” cultivated fish developer Sea2Cell (see previously) was based at Kiryat Shmona – just 2km from the Lebanese border. It had to evacuate when Hezbollah opened fire on Israel’s northern towns. It relocated and now plans to build a pilot facility in 2026 and launch its first product in 2027.

Israeli spirits company Negave Estates aims to help rebuild and resuscitate the Negev communities devastated in the Oct 7 attack.  They plan to bring blue agave (the ingredient for tequila) from Mexico and grow it in the Negev – a similar environment. Wild agave already grows in the Negev.