Startup Nation Central: Resilience of Israels tech ecosystem despite war
Summary
IN JANUARY, Bill Ackman and his wife Neri Oxman bought 4.9% of the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange for $25 million in a move that signaled confidence in the Israeli economy. "Weve seen the tech sector rebound from zero, with much larger fundraising volumes compared to the same period a year ago," said Itay Rand, a general partner at 10D, in a separate release. "In terms of investments, there was almost no activity in the market during October-November, but in the current quarter, were seeing a return of global funds interested in Israel." He said, "Israeli tech is in great momentum; many employees have returned from reserve duty in recent weeks, feeling their presence in startups where, thanks to human capital, theyre progressing faster." Pavel Gurevich, who recently sold his cyber security company for $600 million to Akamai and now manages its operations in Israel, said that the continued performance of the Israeli tech elite "is primarily a tribute to entrepreneurs and Israeli techies who succeed in creating breakthrough technology, building companies, and selling them under such conditions."