New York - Israel Business Alliance: New York State Is Now Home to Nine Israeli-founded Unicorns

NEW YORK, June 23, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Over the past year, four private Israeli-founded companies based in New York surpassed the billion-dollar valuation milestone, bringing the state's total number of Israeli unicorns to nine, according to the New York – Israel Business Alliance. Riskified, Sisense, VAST Data, and Via joined Compass, Lemonade, Payoneer, Taboola, and The We Company in the prestigious club.

"It's remarkable that the number of Israeli-founded unicorns based in New York has nearly doubled over the past year," NYIBA president Aaron Kaplowitz said. "As Israel transforms from the Start-Up Nation to the Scale-Up Nation, New York is becoming more and more indispensable to Israel's innovation ecosystem."

In November, Riskified, a provider of ecommerce fraud prevention with headquarters in Tel Aviv and Manhattan, raised $165 million at a $1 billion valuation. In January, Sisense, a business analytics company, announced a $100 million round that pushed its valuation over $1 billion. In March, ride-sharing service Via secured a $200 million investment that catapulted its valuation to $2.25 billion. And in April, VAST Data, a data storage company, closed a $100 million round based on a $1.2 billion valuation.

Fiverr, the online platform for freelancers, attained unicorn status in 2019 before going public last June. In October, Outbrain, which, according to NYIBA, had been approaching the billion-dollar threshold, merged with Taboola, unifying the digital ad companies' place in the group.

Prior to organizing Gov. Cuomo's economic development mission to Israel in 2019, NYIBA released the findings from its inaugural New York – Israel Economic Impact Report. In addition to tracking unicorns, the study identified 506 Israeli-founded companies across New York State that generated $33.8 billion in total revenue, representing 2.02% of the state's Gross Domestic Product, in 2018. These companies directly employed 24,850 New Yorkers.

The report also classified industries well-positioned for growth: agriculture, AI, cybersecurity, drones, life sciences, and renewable energy.

"As we contend with a global pandemic, I expect to see more collaborations in life sciences, bolstered by the three medical partnerships Gov. Cuomo announced in Jerusalem last year," Kaplowitz said. "Still, I think the areas even more ripe for bilateral growth are AI and drones, sectors that offer audacious long-term solutions to challenges created by the coronavirus."

The New York – Israel Economic Impact Report executive summary is available at www.nyisrael.org. 

About the New York – Israel Business Alliance 

The mission of the New York – Israel Business Alliance is to create economic opportunities between New York State and Israel. Guided by data, NYIBA monitors economic development activity and trends in the public and private sectors to identify bilateral business growth potential. The Alliance hosts information seminars, organizes trade missions, and provides its members with funding notifications and investment opportunities. 

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SOURCE New York - Israel Business Alliance

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