Israel Active

Multinationals have recently been investing heavily in Israeli life science companies. They include Boston Scientific into MValve (heart valves), Novartis into Gamida Cell (stem cell therapies) and eHealthVentures into Intendu (brain dysfunction treatment).

Deutsche Telekom may only have five employees based in Tel Aviv, but they have already initiated partnerships with Israel’s Magisto (video clips) and KIDOZ (child-friendly mobile device interface). The company has also invested in Israeli cybersecurity company MorphiSec.  

Israel’s 200 game companies are expected to generate $1 billion in mobile and social gaming revenue in 2015, up 25 percent from 2014. It explains why the Casual Connect game show was held in Israel for the first time, with over 1,800 registered attendees - twice as many as originally expected.

Chemi Peres (son of ex-President Shimon) is an advisor for Impact First Investments (IFI). IFI supports ethical investments into world-benefiting Israeli innovations. They include B12 which stops damage from pesticides; also the bed sensors that monitor patients and the elderly.  

Israeli water charges will fall by 3% in Israel from 1st Jan. The latest cut is due to a 16% fall over the past year in the price of the electricity used to desalinate drinking water. Water in 2016 will be 20% cheaper than three years ago.

The unemployment rate in Israel fell from 5.2% in August to only 5.1% in September.  

United Airlines is to start a 3-times-a-week service between Tel Aviv and San Francisco. The new route will strengthen ties between the Startup Nation and Silicon Valley and was praised by the US Ambassador Dan Shapiro.  

In the nine months to Sep 2015, a total of 506 Israeli high-tech companies raised a phenomenal $3.2 billion. This compares to $2.3 billion raised by 504 Israeli companies over the same period in 2014.  

Moody's Investors Service reported that Israel's resilient growth model, effective governance and steadily improving debt metrics underpin its A1 government bond rating and stable outlook.  

Israel’s Delek Group is to become the biggest shareholder in UK North Sea oil and gas firm Ithaca Energy following a £43million investment. Ithaca is currently focused on the construction of a new production hub in the Greater Stella area of the central North Sea.