Archives for May 2017

May 16, 2017

Low-cost travelers will now have a new destination to visit out of Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport as WOW Air will offer service to Israel beginning at the end of the summer.

The Iceland-based airline announced the new service Monday with service to Ben Gurion Airport beginning Sept. 12 out of eight cities. One-way tickets out of BWI are on sale today and start at $149.

Flights will be offered four times a week in the beginning and connect through Reykjavik, Iceland, as all WOW Air flights to other countries do. The flights to Israel will be serviced by WOW Air’s new Airbus fleet.

Ben Gurion Airport is about 20 minutes from Tel Aviv and just over an hour to Jerusalem. WOW Air touts Tel Aviv’s beaches, nightlife and museums as reasons to visit the area.

Read More: http://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/news/2017/05/16/wow-air-expands-service-to-israel-out-of-bwi.html

May 19, 2017

The Israeli life sciences industry has slowed slightly in the past two years, in comparison with the global industry. The window of opportunity for Nasdaq issues closed in 2015-2016, but the venture capital funds continued raising money for financing the next generation of promising companies.

The total number of companies in the industry grew, mainly as a result of a boom in digital health. What has slowed over the past two years is the medical devices sector, the former hot spot, which up until now has been responsible for the most impressive exits in the life sciences industry. The changes in the industry have had a negative impact on this sector, but it is still the largest in the industry, although also the most crowded.

These trends can be seen in a detailed report by Israel Advanced Technology Industries (IATI), managed by CEO Karin Mayer Rubinstein. IATI co-chair and life sciences representative and Pluristem Therapeutics president and CEO Yaky Yanay said today, “We issued our previous report two years ago, so we felt it was about time to issue another report. In the coming months, IATI is due to add to the report and use it in working with institutional investors in Israel and with the government for the purpose of further improving the industry.”

Read More: http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-israeli-life-sciences-cos-up-50-in-a-decade-1001189081

May 17, 2017

Israeli startups have raised over $450 million in the second quarter, “Globes” has found. At the midpoint of the second quarter, and with the Passover and the Independence Day festivals reducing the number of business days over the past six weeks, it looks as though Israeli startups are on course to raise about $1 billion in the second quarter, similar to the $1.03 billion raised in the first quarter, according to IVC-ZAG. Although a handsome amount, this is 20% below 2016’s record $4.8 billion raised by startups – about $1.2 billion per quarter.

Israeli startups have really got into their stride over the past few days with some $83 million raised this week – microbiome therapeutics company BiomX raises $24 million, resort suite booking company Sweet Inn raises $22 million, e-commerce search company Twiggle raised $15 million, smart car cyber security company Karamba raised $12 million, and enterprise AI company Mintigo raised $10 million.

Read More: http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-israeli-startups-raise-450m-in-q2-so-far-1001188908

Grants of up to $1 million are available for American and Israeli companies to collaborate on joint energy related new product development research from the US-Israel Binational R&D (BIRD) Foundation. The R&D projects should include innovation in the areas of renewable energy and energy efficiency such as solar and wind power, advanced vehicle technologies, alternative fuels, smart grid, water-energy nexus, and advanced manufacturing, among others.

This “BIRD Energy” call for proposal was established through BIRD Foundation, The U.S. Department of Energy and the Israeli Ministry of National Infrastructures, Energy and Water Resources along with the Israel Innovation Authority.

The deadline for the executive summary for the BIRD Energy proposal is July 6, 2017. More on the grant can be read at their website www.birdf.com.

Feel free to contact us at the Maryland/Israel Development Center for assistance in finding potential Israeli or Maryland partners for this BIRD Foundation grant.