These 10 Israeli companies raised the most money in 2018 so far

Israel’s vibrant tech hub has been of major interest to investors for years. In 2017, VC investment in Israel-based or Israel-linked startups totaled US$5.24 billion, up 9 percent from 2016. The data also shows that as the local tech scene matures, investors are gravitating toward larger investments across fewer deals.

At the half-year mark, 2018 is shaping up to continue the trend. The following list includes the 10 Israeli-linked tech companies that raised the largest funding rounds between January and June, compiled from CTech reports.

Benny Landa / Photo credit: Landa press release

1. Landa Digital Printing

• Amount: US$300 million, announced in June
• Investors: SKion GmbH led the round, with participation from existing investor Altana AG. Together, the two now hold a 46 percent stake in the company.
• Sector: Digital printing
• Founders: Benny Landa
• Year founded: 2002
• Total funding to date: Around US$700 million

A division of Landa Corporation Ltd., Landa develops industrial digital printing technologies for the commercial, packaging, and publishing markets. Based in Rehovot, a town in central Israel, the company employs around 450 people.

(L-R) Joel Bar-El and Dror Feldheim / Photo credit: Trax press release

2. Trax Image Recognition

• Amount: US$125 million, announced in June
• Investors: Boyu Capital Consultancy Co. Ltd. led the round, with participation from DC Thomson.
• Sector: Retail analytics
• Founders: Joel Bar-El and Dror Feldheim
• Year founded: 2010
• Total funding to date: US$235 million

Headquartered in Singapore with a research and development center in Tel Aviv, Trax enables retailers to keep track of their stock using image recognition and computer vision analytics tools. The company operates in over 50 countries, with clients including some of Coca Cola’s anchor bottlers and Henkel AG & Company.

EToro CEO Yoni Assia / Photo credit: Orel Cohen

3. EToro Group Ltd.

• Amount: US$100 million, announced in March
• Investors: China Minsheng Financial Holding Corporation Ltd. led the round, with participation from SBI Group and Korea Investment Partners.
• Sector: Alternative financing
• Founders: David Ring, Ronen Assia, and Yoni Assia
• Year founded: 2007
• Total funding to date: US$162 million

EToro operates a website that enables users to make investments in a variety of financial assets. Investments can be made manually or “socially” by copying the trading activity of other users.

4. Selina Ltd.

• Amount: US$95 million, announced in April
• Investors: WeWork founder Adam Neumann and the Abraaj Group
• Sector: Hospitality and co-working
• Founders: Rafael Museri and Daniel Rudasevski
• Year founded: 2014
• Total funding to date: US$95 million

5. Gett

6. V-Wave Ltd.

7. BlueVine Capital Inc.

8. Claroty Ltd.

9. TripActions Inc.

10. Moovit App Global Ltd.