Viola Group, a leading Israeli VC, compiled a report showing Israel’s tech ecosystem successes in 2021. We break down the highlights and add some thoughts here!
As we reflect back on an exciting 2021, it’s clear to see that it was a record-breaking year for Israel and its startup and tech industry. Viola Group’s 2021 End of Year Report highlights some of the achievements of Israel’s tech ecosystem.
Billions in Tech Funding
The investment stream in Israeli tech companies was as high as always in the beginning of 2021. In 2020 (the first year of COVID-19 impact), the total investment in Israeli startups and scaleups was $10.3Bn, while the first three quarters of 2021 alone accumulated $18.9Bn in investments. However, in the final quarter of 2021, Israel startups pushed their funding rounds to the limit, obtaining US$8.1Bn more, and brought 2021 to a strong finish with a total investment amount of US$27Bn, more than double that of 2020!
The leading sectors in funding were Cyber/Security and FinTech, making up 42% of the total funding. Next in line were IT/DevOps (9.5%) and RetailTech (7.7%).
A Unicorn Zoo
A “unicorn” is tech slang for a startup whose valuation is over $1 billion. Israel, the Startup Nation, is one of the unicorn capitals of the world. In 2021 alone, 48 new unicorns emerged in Israel. Israel, a country of 9 million people, has surpassed much larger countries, such as the United Kingdom, India, and China! If you think about it, Israel now also has the world’s highest unicorn per capita ratio!
Source: Viola Group
M&A and IPOs
Israel’s tech ecosystems bounced back from a challenging year in 2020, with more mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and initial public offerings (IPOs). 153 M&As occurred in 2021, with startups such as Guardicore (cybersecurity), Chorus (Sales AI), and Epsagon (application monitoring) being acquired for over US$500M each.
Israeli companies led 25 IPOs in stock exchanges (mostly NASDAQ and NYSE), which had a combined market cap of US$84Bn, 9 times higher than 2020! Among the startups that IPOed are known brands and tools such as ironSource, SentinelOne, and monday.com.
Some of the top Israeli IPOs of 2021 (Source: NoCamels)
Israel is Technology
Israel has been a force in the global technology space for many decades, and 2021 has signified its increasing strength. The technology expertise, entrepreneurial mindset, and constant innovation coming out of Israel make it a guiding light for tech ecosystems and startups across the world.
With Wawiwa Tech, you can bring the Israeli tech know-how to your ecosystem. We work with partners around the world to open tech training centers and offer tech training programs that reskill and upskill people to tech professions in high demand, including Software Developers, Cybersecurity Analysts, and many more.
We would help you implement training methodologies, developed and perfected in Israel over the past few decades, to reskill people with no experience into tech jobs in a matter of months. Together, we can help you play an active role in reskilling your local ecosystem to tech and closing the tech skills shortage in your country!
You can read more insights about the Israeli tech ecosystem in 2021 in the Viola report:
https://www.viola-group.com/violanotes/breaking-records-in-a-records-break-year/
