In a 31.7% offering for NIS 200 million, mostly foreign demand for the TASE IPO currently sits at NIS 1 billion. Yet with the backdrop of declining volume, multiple delistings, and a disinterested Israeli public, some investors are beginning to ask: why?
According to the numbers just released by the Israel Bureau of Statistics, Israel has become an incredibly attractive destination. 4.5 million tourists visited the tiny nation in 2019 (a huge number for a country of just 9 million). Compare that with 2.89 million tourists in 2016, and Israeli tourism appears to be having a spate of miraculous growth.
The startup nation shows no signs of slowing down, generating some 1,400 new startups each year with soaring valuations and a healthy growing economy to back them. However, as the list of startups grows, it can be difficult to find those that are truly accomplishing something unique. In this post we detail 5 startups that are truly driving innovation.
In mid-November 2019 Tesla Motors registered a wholly owned Israeli subsidiary and began the process of breaking into the Israeli market. Meetings were set with the Israeli ministries of transportation and energy and a spate of hiring began in Tel Aviv. Yet with such a small market, many wonder if demand will justify Elon Musk’s most recent move.
One rapidly burgeoning meat market megatrend, as it is being called by some, is that of lab-grown meat—no animals yet organically grown meats nonetheless. The trend has already been making waves in recent years, but it’s growth is greatly catalyzed by Tyson’s sizable investment in Israeli biotech, Future Meat Technologies.
U.S. credit card super-company, Visa, has elected to tap into the fintech industries of select countries, and Israel is a primary focal point. The payments giant launched a technology scouting hub in Tel Aviv this month, announcing at the beginning of February that it aimed to add Tel Aviv to a list of cities that make up its collaborative lab operation.
A major focal point and trend for corporations and major metropolises in the world’s developed countries today is that of so-called smart-city technologies. Smart-city tech is a term that refers to any technology consistently being used to improve municipal infrastructure. These innovations typically manifest as upgrades to existing technology and tools already in use for a myriad of daily public functions.
OurCrowd is a leading, crowd equity platform based in Jerusalem with branches in the U.S., Canada, Singapore and Australia. The firm just wrapped up its biggest investor conference, which involved an exhibition of the latest robotics, drones, medtech, AI, and mobility tech. Jon Medved, CEO of OurCrowd, made headlines with his announcement that OurCrowd raised $650 million, anticipating that they will soon break the $1 billion ceiling this year.
As late as 2015, Westerners were still just coming around to understanding what QR (Quick Response) codes were—a two-dimensional barcode originally designed in Japan for the automotive industry. It was an ambitious, Israeli startup called Visualead that was already revolutionizing the technology that year.
Born in Israel and resident of the U.K., Teddy Sagi has been an integral facet of recent rounds of funding in Israel. Chiefly, Sagi invested $3 million in SmartGreen Ltd., which was announced by Sagi’s business group. He’s something of a British business magnate. His mobile ad firm, Glispa Global Group, generates considerable revenue, as does his online gambling game developer, Playtech PLC.
