Big Tech 50 reveals sharp falls in Israeli startup valuations

• Published date: 09 April 2024
• Author: Assaf Gilead
• Publication title: Globes (Rishon LeZion, Israel)

Orcam is one of 10 companies which have seen their valuation fall since 2021, according to Big Tech 50. These include fintech companies for small businesses Fundbox and BlueVine, which have seen their valuations fall by 76% and 37% respectively. The valuations of AI investigation platform Voyager Labs and smart imaging for retail platform Trax have fallen by 69% and 61% respectively since 2021, while Buildots, which has developed tools for monitoring construction processes for real estate companies, has seen its valuation cut by 50%

BigTech 50 has also reported that two companies saw their valuations remain unchanged - smart transport company Via and US cybersecurity company Human. Two others companies - content company Open Web and insurtech company At Bay have seen their valuations increase modestly since 2021.

BigTech 50 only has small holdings in each startup - 1% on average - and its ability to see the financial books of each company it has invested in and estimate its valuation is limited. Even so its evaluation of its assets does provide an insight into what is happening in Israel's privately held tech companies.

A fall of $1.6 billion in two years

Big Tech 50 invested $2 million in Orcam in July 2021 for less than 1% of its shares, reflecting a valuation of just $363 million by its calculations. The R&D partnership also reveals that Orcam has estimated annual revenue of $67 million. Orcam is a private company and therefore its valuation is not set unless it sells shares in a secondary deal or raises money in a new financing round. In the event that such deals do not happen, investors can estimate the valuation of a company at their own discretion. Consequently, Big Tech...