Israeli Securities, Innovation Authorities Launch New Program For Fintech Startups

The Israel Securities Authority (ISA) and the Israel Innovation Authority (IIA) launched a new program this week for fintech startups aimed at offering direct collaboration between regulators, regulated entities, and companies in the industry.

Called Data Sandbox, the program supports Israeli companies that meet “the real-world needs of the industry,” the Innovation Authority said. It is run in collaboration with the TASE (Tel Aviv Stock Exchange) with the support of the Israeli Ministry of Finance.

The Data Sandbox initiative will offer a direct interface between regulators, regulated entities, and high-growth fintech companies. Companies participating in the project could gain access to the databases of the ISA and the TASE.

Five Israeli companies were selected for the program which will run for approximately six months, according to the announcement. They offer solutions in areas such as liquidity provision, digital tools for verification and authentication, identification of trading anomalies, and tools for portfolio investment managers.

The solutions will help meet the challenges faced by the Securities Authority and the capital market, such as bolstering Stock Exchange liquidity, improving compliance processes while reducing affiliated costs, and making data accessible for regulated entities, the statement said.

The companies selected for the program include Zirra.co, a Tel Aviv-based trading analytics firm that offers clear and structured data-driven insights through artificial intelligence — built to determine risk of investment; Scanovate, a Ramat-Gan based firm that will establish an SaaS-based Identity Provider on a cloud for clients of Israeli investment houses; and Correlate Capital, a tech company specializing in the development of trading and liquidity provision systems that created a system that provides liquidity and other products.

Two companies were selected to conduct a pilot with the authority while using trading data received directly from the TASE. Fintica AI will use artificial intelligence and Wizsoft (Israel), which provides enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions and operates machine learning and data mining systems, will run algorithms for the pilot.

“The goal of this pilot program with the Israel Securities Authority is to allow local high-tech companies to implement their technology for the benefit of the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange and capital market, thus improving the market-readiness and market penetration of their products while also providing solutions to the challenges faced by the Israeli economy,’ said Aharon Aharon, CEO of the Israel Innovation Authority.

“The path to achieving this goal lies primarily in sharing the know-how and data accumulated by the Authority along with additional regulatory entities with Fintech companies which offer technological solutions for the capital market, and to guide the pilot process while providing solutions for regulatory issues,” adds Anat Guetta, chairperson of Israel Securities Authority.

Aharon said that because there is a high demand for the program and the variety of solutions that were submitted, thus both the ISA and the IIA have decided to launch an additional call for proposals, scheduled to close later this year.