Israel Active

For the 4th year, MasterCard is offering a $25,000 prize for an Israeli startup to help the international giant improve its electronic payments and financial services. The winner can also join the MasterCard Start Path global program, the company’s financial technology accelerator.  

Israeli bio giant Teva has purchased Mexico’s Representaciones e Investigaciones Médicas, S.A. de C.V. (Rimsa) for $2.3 billion. Teva expects the deal will yield substantial and achievable synergies and offer a platform for growth in the region.  

The Mexican government has purchased an advanced intelligence-gathering drone made by Israel’s Aeronautics. The Dominator XP is based on a DA-42 twin star commercial plane, and is designed to provide intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance flight missions.  

A new non-profit organization Start-up Nation Central has been launched to connect companies and countries to the people and technologies in Israel that can solve their most pressing challenges. Founded by US hedge fund billionaire Paul Singer with Dan Senor, co-author of “Startup Nation”.  

Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam has returned from taking an 18-person delegation to Israel. He said there already have been second and third connections since the business venture. Tennessee provides a low-cost location compared to New York, San Francisco and L.A.  

Hila Oren is CEO of Tel Aviv Global (TAG) a city-run company whose goal is to turn Tel Aviv into a global hot spot for innovation. Here are some of the key initiatives TAG has implemented to cultivate the ecosystem and encourage innovation to take root.  

Israel’s foreign currency reserves stood at a record $89.335 billion at the end of September 2015, an increase of $337 million from their level at the end of August.  

UK’s leading retailer John Lewis is to use the augmented reality software from Israel’s Cimagine to help customers visualize new ways to personalize and design their home. Cimagine is in use at UK’s online retail giant Shop Direct.

Israel’s Teva continues its expansion into digital medicine by purchasing US-based Gecko Health Innovations. Gecko has developed CareTR, a cloud-based solution that simplifies chronic respiratory disease management by connecting patients and caregivers through remote monitoring and real-time adherence tools.

Tel Aviv University was 9th in the PitchBook report for undergrad programs that produced the most start-up founders. TAU was the only non-US university in the top 10. Israel’s Technion came 20th and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem came 39th.