Israel Active

Here is a detailed analysis of the economic and political factors behind the recent gains in Israel’s stock market. Note the statement that Israel “is the dominant leader in technological innovation, which is pulling solid capital into the country.”

An interview with Ben Rudin of Israel’s Intelescope. As reported in my newsletter, Intelescope uses drone and satellite imagery to provide critical data on the forests that cover 31% of the earth’s land mass. It can also predict and help fight forest fires and diseases.

USAToday has rated Tel Aviv’s Tel-O-Fun bike-sharing program as the 8th best of 533 similar facilities around the world. Tel-O-Fun began operations in Apr 2011. Its 2000 bicycles provide around 9,000 individual rides per day.

The world’s 20th most popular music app is Israel’s Music Messenger. It averages one million new users a month and has just raised $35 million of funding from investors including UK Chelsea soccer club owner Roman Abramovitch and ex Abba star Benny Andersson.

Europe’s largest airline Ryanair is resuming talks in Israel to operate flights from Tel Aviv to several destinations in Europe with return tickets at around €140 (about $150). “We want our flag in the State of Israel”, said Ryanair's deputy director of route development, Kate Sherry.

A delegation of 32-member team from the US of Georgia has returned from visiting Israel and is enthusiastic about attracting Israeli cyber security companies to the US State.

Israel’s OurCrowd, the world’s leading equity crowdfunding platform, marked Israel’s 67th birthday by announcing its 67th portfolio company. ElMindA developed the world’s first FDA-approved neural functional assessment tool to visualize serious brain trauma and illnesses.

Israelis companies conducted 11 offerings on Wall Street in the first quarter of 2015: three IPOs and eight secondary offerings. An almost unimaginable total of $1.5 billion was raised, considering that $3.9 billion was raised in all of 2014.

Israeli garment printing company Kornit saw its share price jump 40% on the day following its NASDAQ IPO. Analysts were bullish on the prospects for Kornit’s digital inkjet printing using non-toxic water-based inks, highlighting low-costs, flexibility and lack of competitors.

Israeli kids’ games publisher TabTable has made its 4th acquisition, and its first in the USA with the purchase of rival Sunstorm Games. It will add another 5 million users to the 40 existing active users of TabTable’s apps.