Following a recent flurry of investment activity, New York City is now home to 21 Israeli-founded unicorns — privately held companies valued at $1 billion or more — according to the United States — Israel Business Alliance (USIBA).
Each of these companies’ global or U.S. headquarters is based in Manhattan, establishing New York as the city with the second most Israeli-founded unicorns in the world, behind Tel Aviv.
“The numbers we’re seeing in New York are unprecedented,” USIBA president Aaron Kaplowitz said.
“Despite a year filled with challenges and uncertainty, New York remains a global hub for growth industries that Israeli entrepreneurs continue to disrupt.”
Over the past six months, 10 Israeli-founded companies based in New York have achieved unicorn status: Axonius, BigID, Forter, Kaltura, K Health, Melio, Papaya Global, SimilarWeb, Talkspace and Yotpo.
They joined Gett, Monday.com, OrCam, Outbrain, Payoneer, Riskified, Sisense, Taboola, WeWork, VAST Data and Via.
“There’s no doubt that Covid-19 disoriented the investment community,” Kaplowitz said. “Once investors and growth-stage companies got their bearings, and some technologies gained more relevance from the pandemic, investment activity picked up in a big way — especially in 2021.”
Since January, seven New York-based Israeli-founded companies crossed the $1 billion threshold: online therapy provider Talkspace; accounts payable tool Melio; AI-driven telemedicine app K Health; cybersecurity asset management firm Axonius; workforce management platform Papaya Global; e-commerce marketing platform Yotpo; and video platform service Kaltura.
During the record-setting first quarter of 2021, Israeli-founded companies raised $5.37 billion total —– double the capital they raised over the first quarter of 2020.
In 2019, when USIBA released the findings from the first-ever New York – Israel Economic Impact Report, only five Israeli-founded unicorns maintained headquarters in New York City: Lemonade, Compass, Payoneer, Taboola and WeWork. Lemonade and Compass have since shed their unicorn status by going public, and the other three are soon following suit.
Currently, 506 Israeli-founded businesses are based in New York State. USIBA, headquartered in New York, recently opened its second office, in Miami.
New York hosts 21 Israeli-founded unicorns… and counting appeared first on ISRAEL21c.
The post New York Hosts 21 Israeli-founded Unicorns… And Counting appeared first on Zenger News.
