Israeli Startups Kick Off Strong 2018 With Raised Capital Of Over $1.5B In Q1

May 7, 2018 | Israeli high-tech startups and companies raised some $1.52 billion in capital in 181 deals over the first quarter of 2018, signaling a strong start to the year and a marked increase from the first quarter of 2017 with $1.06 billion in 155 deals, according to a report released by the IVC Research Center and the law firm ZAG-S&W Zysman, Aharoni, Gayer & Co. Three deals, each of $100 million or more, accounted for 23 percent of total capital raised in the first quarter according to the report, including Israeli social trading company eToro with $100 million in a Series E funding in March and Israeli fintech company Behalf, which provides loans and on-demand payment tools to large and small business in the US, with $150 million (in debt financing) in February. The report found that more cybersecurity companies (34) raised $328 million in capital in the first quarter this year, almost double the number of deals (18) in Q4 2017. Capital raising by companies in earlier stages, including R&D and Round A,  grew by 60 percent, raising $451 million compared to the quarterly averages in 2017. Adv. Shmulik Zysman, Attorney at Law, Managing Partner leading the high-tech sector at ZAG-S&W Zysman, Aharoni, Gayer & Co, said, “Israeli high-tech opens 2018 with a strong momentum…In the past years, usually, the first quarter figures were weaker compared to other quarters of the same year, mostly in capital amounts. If judged by the numbers of Q1/2018, it looks like we might have an interesting and prolific year ahead of us.”