How Israeli start-ups thrived during COVID-19

• Author: ALON GHELBER
• Published date: 11 October 2021
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

There is one sector of the Israeli economy that, while deeply affected by the pandemic, has managed to shine throughout – our tech sector, which was largely not disrupted by the pandemic and, in some cases, benefited from some of its "silver linings."

At the moment, Israel's economy is on track for a good recovery; it is projected to grow by more than 5% in 2021, thanks to exports, consumer spending and investments. How did the Israeli start-up ecosystem evolve during the pandemic? I spoke with several industry insiders to see how the pandemic affected their sector.

Big investments

The greatest indicator that the tech industry in Israel has not been in distress over the last year and a half is the record-breaking number of unicorns, a number that is already impressive and is in continued growth. ("Unicorn" is the term used to describe a private start-up company with a value of over $1 billion.)

While the number of Israeli unicorns was only one in 2013, today there are over 65 unicorns – over 8% of the world's total number of unicorns!

According to Keren Levy, chief operating officer at Payoneer, which had a $3.3 billion valuation earlier this year, there is a "virtuous cycle of economic interests." As more global actors see the success of many Israeli-born start-ups, they feel more encouraged to invest money in new Israeli ventures, facilitating a constant flow of cash.

Cloud-based solutions

Many of the start-ups operating in Israel offer cloud-based software solutions, which don't require infrastructure and can be easily discovered and acquired from abroad. During the COVID-19 pandemic, as a significant portion of our economy had to transition online and work and school, for many people, became remote, cloud-based solutions quickly became very relevant.

Gadi Mazor, chief operating officer and general manager at BioCatch, a behavioral biometrics firm based in Tel Aviv, told me that, for the most part, the pandemic expedited many digital trends.

"Many remote businesses and new ways of doing things grew out of the crisis," he explained. "The technology segment as a whole got a major boost. Processes that in...