Not every country receives an aspirational nickname. The State of Israel has rightly earned two.
The monikers “Innovation Nation” and “Start-up Nation” are often used as shorthand to illustrate Israel’s unparalleled technological ecosystem. The nicknames depict, in part, the numerous start-ups Israel produces, the backing that technological companies receive by the government, capital from global investors, and the “can-do-anything” attitude of the Israeli entrepreneur.
Whether you measure a country’s technological prowess by its research and development budget, percent of foreign venture capital dollars, start-ups per capita, or global market share in tech-heavy areas such as cyber security, Israel generally shows up at the top of the lists.
Exciting arrays of innovative start-ups attract a lot of attention. This leads to Israeli companies often merging or becoming acquired by larger multinational companies. Intel, for example, purchased Mobileye, for $15.3 billion and Google purchased Waze for $1 billion. Of course, for every headline about an Israeli company acquired, there are many other deals executed each month.
But not every Israeli start-up chooses to exit through M&A. Some choose an international initial public offering, often on a large exchange. The NASDAQ is one option and its orientation toward tech-companies makes it naturally compelling for Israeli companies to list there.
With 79 companies and a combined market capital of $88 billion, Israel represents the only Middle Eastern country listed on NASDAQ. In short, Israel is a powerhouse country for the exchange.
Israeli listings on NASDAQ include: 38 healthcare companies, 24 technology companies, and 7 capital goods companies. So far in 2020, three new companies, Ayala Pharmaceuticals (AYLA), Nano-X Imaging (NNOX), and PolyPid (PYPD), joined the NASDAQ.
While each company listed has an incredible story and innovative solutions, we highlight three below. If you have interest in working with these, or any other Israeli company listed (or not listed), please contact your local Israeli Trade Representative.
You can find them here: http://www.itrade.gov.il/
Cyberark – (NASDAQ: CYBR) – Cyberark was established in 1999 and now has over 1,480 employees, 480 of which are located in Israel. In 2019 they had sales of $411M. CyberArkis focused on eliminating the most advanced cyber threats; those that use insider privileges to attack the heart of the enterprise. Dedicated to stopping attacks before they stop business,CyberArkproactively secures against cyber threats before attacks can escalate and do irreparable damage. The company is trusted by leading companies to protect their highest value information assets, infrastructure and applications.
SolarEdge – (NASDAQ: SEDG) – SolarEdge was established in 2006 and now has over 2,078 employees, 650 which are located in Israel. In 2018 they had sales of $914M. SolarEdge provides an intelligent inverter solution that has changed the way power is harvested and managed in solar photovoltaic systems. The SolarEdge DC optimized inverter system maximizes power generation at the individual PV module-level while lowering the cost of energy produced by the solar PV system. The SolarEdge system consists of power optimizers, inverters, storage solutions, and a cloud-based monitoring platform and addresses a broad range of solar market segments, from residential solar installations to commercial and small utility-scale solar installations.
WIX.com (NASDAQ: WIX) – Wix was established in 2006 and now has over 2,600 employees, 1,800 which are located in Israel. In 2019 they had sales of $761M. Wixis a leading cloud-based web development platform with over 90 million registered users worldwide.Wixwas founded on the belief that the Internet should be accessible to everyone to develop, create and contribute. Through free and premium subscriptions,Wixempowers millions of businesses, organizations, professionals and individuals to take their businesses, brands and workflow online.WixADI, theWixEditor and a highly curated App Market enable users to build and manage a fully integrated and dynamic digital presence.
Together with the activity in Israel, the Foreign Trade Administration operates a network of economic representatives who constitute the operational arm of the Ministry in markets around the world. The main activities of the economic and trade offices include activities for the promotion of trade and export, initiating and maintaining trade agreements for the improvement of Israel’s trade conditions, attracting and encouraging foreign investments and creating strategic cooperation with foreign companies.
For more information, please visit http://www.itrade.gov.il/ or contact your local Israel Economic Attaché.
