5 Israeli-founded Firms Named To ‘Most Valuable US Private Tech Startups’ List

Five companies with Israeli founders were among 26 companies selected for a list of the most valuable private startups in the US by American financial and business news website Business Insider.

The site used data from PitchBook, the global financial data and software company, to compile their list of 26 US startups with the highest valuations.

Business Insider writes that according to PitchBook data, “There’s a new cast of major tech startups that have taken the top spots of the most highly valued private companies.”

“But recent major investments into burgeoning tech startups — including Juul and Pokemon Go-creator Niantic — have brought new players into the spotlight,” the website says.

We Company (WeWork), the shared workspace firm co-founded by Israeli entrepreneur Adam Neumann took the number one spot with a whopping $47 billion valuation. The company rebranded in January to incorporate its various business lines and expand into new ventures.

The Business Insider list also included Houzz, the online home design platform, with a $4 billion valuation founded by Israeli designers Adi Tatarko and Alon Cohen in 2008; Compass, the platform for real estate agents and customers founded by Israeli-born Ori Allon with a $4.4 billion valuation; Magic Leap, a Miami-based company valued at $6.4 billion, which developed an augmented reality tech and was co-founded by Rony Abovitz, a US entrepreneur born to Israeli parents who immigrated to the US; and Tanium, the security and systems management company for large enterprises with a $6.7 billion valuation, founded by father and son David and Orion Hindawi. The elder Hindawi was born in Iraq and immigrated to Israel in 1951, leaving for the US in 1970.

Nicotine vaporized developer Juul, Elon Musk’s space transport vehicle manufacturer SpaceX, and AirBNB, the online short-term home rental marketplace giant took the second, third, and fourth spots on the list respectively.