Israel Desks - February 2020 Edition

20 deals, and in 2010 Israeli tech firms raised USD2.1 billion in 319 deals. VC-backed deals totaled a record amount of USD6.4 billion in 2019 compared to USD4.75 billion in 2018 and USD1.13 billion in 2010 . Deals with VC participation captured 60% of the total number of deals in 2019. The dollar volume of deals in which VCs took part captured 77% of the total raised in 2019. “VC activity in Israel remains extremely strong. Once upon a time, Israel was known for excellent early-stage technology companies and more modest valuations compared to its Silicon Valley counterparts,” adds Gross. “Now, there are more mature, developed companies, including many unicorns.” Daniel Turgel, P artner in the Global Mergers and Acquisitions practice of White & Case agrees . “I have seen a recent influx of venture capital funds coming into the market, including European funds that are exploring the horizon for the first time.” Israel is becoming a hardcore technology hub for big global tech companies “Israelis are becoming more mature and having more patience, having learned to wait and get to a higher valuation,” adds Eyal Orgad , Partner in the New York office of Latham and Watkins , which leverages its global reach to provide strategic advice to Israeli clients on some of the highest profile and highest value M&A transactions in the Israeli market. Colleague and London Partner , Joshua Kiernan ad ds: “Israel is becoming a hardcore technology hub for big global technology companies to come in and buy new technology because Israel has a great reputation in terms of its technological development. That's driving higher valuation. There's been an explosion of unicorns in Israel that we've never seen, and those companies they are looking to raise big investment rounds, and that is attracting more and more foreign VC's and growth funds.We are also seeing more and more Israeli companies shifting their center of gravity and their headquarters to the U.S. - so they can be closer to their customers. Top management has moved to the U.S. and as a result, they are inevitably gaining more attention from the big VC funds in the U.S. because they're physically on the ground.”