Despite COVID-19: Israeli Technological Innovation Sets New Capital Rounds Record; Approaches The $10 Billion Line

Capital raised in 2020 increases by over 20% YoY. Investments in Israeli companies more than tripled in six years

Israel records a sharp rise in high-tech investments compared with Europe, Asia, and America. Hundreds of Israeli technological innovation solutions implemented worldwide during COVID-19

Prof. Eugene Kandel, CEO of Start-Up Nation Central: "The impressive growth figures must not divert our attention from the worrying decline in the number of new startups and the relative scarcity of early stage rounds."

TEL AVIV, Israel, Dec. 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Start-Up Nation Central (SNC) today published a research report that shows that 2020 was a record year in terms of capital raised by Israeli companies. As of the beginning of December 2020, Israeli companies raised $9.5 billion in capital, over 20% above 2019 figures of $7.7 billion. ^[1] 

The figures were published on Finder, SNC's innovation tracking platform, showing that 2020 is on course to becoming the first year in which capital raised by Israeli companies will cross the $10 billion threshold.

Aviv Alper, senior director of research at SNC, says the excess performance of the Israeli tech ecosystem can be attributed to the growing demand for technologies led by Israel,  as well as to the unique qualities of the Israeli innovation industry. These qualities include, among others, rapid response to change, cumulative technological experience, and Israel's branding as a global high-tech hub. To learn more, read SNC's annual report on The New Digital Age.

Israeli companies experience a sharp investment hike compared with rest of world

The marked increase in investments in Israeli companies (most of which originate from foreign investors) is even more pronounced when compared with investment performance across the globe. While Israel recorded an increase of over 20%, tech companies in the USA benefited from a mere 5% increase, while Europe recorded a weighted increase of a mere 1%. Investment in Asian technology companies fell by 15%, and South America experienced a 21% decline from the beginning of the year through the beginning of December 2020.

According to SNC's Finder, the dramatic rise in Israeli high tech and innovation over the past year focused on the more advanced stages of the capital rounds (25 million dollars and above). This represents a strong vote of confidence on behalf of global investors, despite the economic instability that characterized 2020 due to the COVID-19 crisis.

Prof. Eugene Kandel, CEO of Start-Up Nation Central said, "The impressive investment figures are remarkable at the time of global crisis. They indicate the global investors' trust in the maturing 'Start-Up Nation'. The support for the Israeli tech innovation sector over the last decade has paid off." However, Prof. Kandel added, "The number of new startups founded annually is on the decline for the last three years, and in 2020 we witnessed a decline in the number of the early stage rounds. These developments must be watched carefully so that Israel can maintain its tech position in the coming decade as well."

Hundreds of Israeli solutions for COVID-19 related issues implemented worldwide

Yet another expression of the world's confidence in Israel as a global problem solver is demonstrated in hundreds of implementations of Israeli technologies in numerous countries and in diverse areas, including healthcare, mental wellbeing, privacy protection, remote work, and agri  tech.

Some of the Israeli solutions implemented worldwide to address COVID-19 issues include SentinelOne, enabling  detection and prevention if cyber attacks in times of increase in network traffic and virtual presence, Intuition Roboticscreator of ElliQ, touch screen social robot designed to help the elderly, AgriTask, that enables remote management of farms, K-Health's AI-based preliminary medical consulting, an end-to-end online learning environment for students and teachers from Class.me, and a smart home testing device that eliminates the need to visit the clinic from Tyto Care.

Start-Up Nation Central is a non-profit organization with the goal of strengthening the Israeli innovation industry. The organization helps fuel "the engine of the Israeli economy," expose its capabilities and encourage international business cooperation with the technological ecosystem in Israel. To realize this vision, Start-Up Nation Central has leading partnerships and relationships with business organizations, venture capitalists, companies, investors, authorities and various government ministries around the world. The organization's activities are funded solely by philanthropy.

Start-Up Nation Finder™ is the leading resource for in-depth information about Israeli start-ups, investors, hubs, multinational corporations and academic technologies. By combining data technology, crowdsourcing, and a team of professional analysts. It provides the most up to date information and insights on more than 6,600 active companies.

[1] According to SNC's Finder, total capital raised s $7.7 billion. The Bank of Israel's figures for 2019 add up to a higher amount. The discrepancy is due to different definitions of what constitutes an Israeli company.

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