January was a record month for the Israeli tech ecosystem, with six start-ups raising mega-rounds of more than $100 million each, Start-Up Nation Central said Thursday.
In total, a record $1.44 billion was raised by Israeli firms in January, the NGO said.
The number of mega-rounds in January alone was almost a third of the 21 mega-rounds that were reported in all of 2020. This reflects a strong vote of investor confidence in Israel’s innovation ecosystem during the COVID-19 pandemic, Start-Up Nation Central said.
“The record level of fundraising in recent months is driven by two effects," said SNC director Meir Valman. "One is the increasing maturity of the Israeli tech ecosystem, when rapidly growing start-ups are able to raise much larger rounds. The other is the effect of COVID-19 on Israeli companies, which pivot rapidly to address the challenges of the pandemic, but that will also stay relevant long after it is gone.”
Analysts have noted that company valuations in Israel and around the world have risen significantly in recent months due to an increase in the money supply in the United States, part of the economic stimulus measures it has taken in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
The six mega-rounds in January were:
- Rapyd Financial Network (Fintech): $300M, D Round
- Drivenets (Network Infrastructure): $208M, B Round
- OwnBackup (Enterprise solutions): $167.5M, D Round
- K Health (Digital health): $132M, E Round
- Resident Home (Ecommerce): $130M, B Round
- Melio (Fintech): $110M, D Round
In addition, at least two Israeli cybersecurity firms reported mega-rounds in the first 11 days of February: CYE's $100 million round Armis's $125 million round, both announced this week.