Israel Active

Israel and Ontario have just extended their 10-year research & development collaboration program by another 5 years. Prior investment of $18 million generated $1 billion in earnings to the companies emerging from the program. And another $6 million has just gone in.

The modern way to rent your house or apartment is with Airbnb. But it can be stressful, time-consuming and possibly costly. Israel’s Guesty provides your prospective and actual guests with fast responses to their seemingly endless questions.

On 5th May, a leasing company took an off-duty Saudi Arabian Airbus A330-300 to Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport for servicing by Israel Aerospace’s Bedek, one of the world’s leading aircraft maintenance companies. The Saudi owners were not pleased when they found out.

Chinese Internet giant Baidu has invested millions in Israel’s Taboola – famous for its “you may also be interested in” online advertisements that tempt users to visit other sites. Baidu has previously invested in Israel’s Tonara and Pixellot, and China is Israel’s number 1 investor.

Connecticut has hired Chaim Oren of the Oren Group to convince Israeli companies to relocate to the US. Oren’s focus will be on businesses involved in aeronautics, bioscience, advanced manufacturing, green technologies, insurance and digital media.

The Israel Venture Capital Research Center reports that $801 million was invested in 167 life sciences companies in 2014. This was 55% higher than the $516 million raised by 142 companies in 2013.

Israel’s SolarEdge Technologies is to integrate its PV invertors with Tesla Motor’s Powerwall - its home battery solution. It will enable homeowners to store surplus energy at point of generation for later reuse, providing either complete energy independence or a backup for electrical outages.

Between 1999 and 2014, 10,185 Israeli tech companies emerged on the scene. About 5,400 are still in operation, with 2.6% garnering annual revenue that exceeds $100 million. High-tech exports are valued at about $18.4 billion a year, comprising about 45% of the country’s exports.

Apple has decided to increase the size of its second Herzliya research building to be built later this year by no less than 4,000 meters, enabling it to add 150 to 250 new Israeli employees to its current 700 staff. Apple’s Israeli development center is its largest in the world outside its California HQ.

Israel’s national airline El Al has launched its “Cockpit” program that provides help to entrepreneurs who are developing solutions for the travel industry. It already has two startups, Shopnfly and BidFlyer, who will use El Al as a “test site” for their apps and software and maybe as a strategic partner.