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The Surge in Enterprise Tech Advancements in Israel
Mor Assia
As a nation well versed in answering geopolitical quarrels and environmental inadequacies with innovation and novel solutions, Israel has a track record in adapting. Our bone-dry climate prompted the creation of drip irrigation, leaving an indelible mark on global agriculture. And a tenuous security situation instigated the invention of the Iron Dome, one of the most advanced missile defense systems in the world.
The cessation of travel in the wake of COVID-19 provided the ability to evolve existing assets and technological know-how idiosyncratic to Israel. Our software-focused companies pushed forward the envelope of enterprise software. With a founder base already well-versed in software-driven networking and centralized enterprise-intelligence, the inward focus brought about by mandated quarantines granted a significant head start towards gaining ground in addressable markets through newly-deployed efficiencies.
The results are evident: Papaya Global, already a master at managing workforce and payroll solutions through single-platform integration, focused resources on its own unified-data console, in turn educating companies worldwide regarding the need for adaptation to automation, digitization and innovation, while securing fresh ground in its addressable market.
As we watch the explosion of the gig economy, a recent study showed that more than 68 percent of remote workers are interested in taking on freelance opportunities. A proponent and proliferator in the space, Fiverr, an Israeli online marketplace for freelance services, succeeded in capturing growth so well that its stock shot up 7x during 2020.
Digital health, a burgeoning field in its own right before COVID-19, is now the future of medicine as the pandemic gave rise to tele-appointments, wellness sensors and the wider convergence of medicine and technology. Israeli companies are at the forefront of this tectonic shift. Immunai is mapping the human immune system, engendering the ability to revolutionize discovery of targets for new drugs.
“The cessation of travel in the wake of COVID-19 provided the ability to evolve existing assets and technological know-how idiosyncratic to Israel.”
Antidote Health is using digitization to slash the cost of American healthcare while making it more equitable for the underserved; Binah is allowing users to monitor vital signs via video thus helping to bring down health-insurance premiums, and Theator has created the world’s first surgical intelligence platform to optimize the operating room and reduce malpractice incidents.
In more niche sectors, GOARC, which produces data-driven solutions for the inter-connected worker at high-risk work sites, already had a wealth of knowledge in efficient, on-premise onboarding: the GOARC app allows industrial companies to align multiple moving parts, both man and machine, into one efficient, interconnected platform.
However, during the pandemic, the Company’s lead programmers upped the ante, as the process was significantly fine tuned for off-site deployment and monitoring. Caja Robotics, whose construction of specialized robots for e-commerce warehousing to optimize the goods-to-person picking process, ramped up its hard coding efforts and announced advancements in its cloud software system to allow for further off-site deployment and monitoring.
Our government’s swift response to the virus proved a vital asset: Israel had the good fortune of a smaller population, digitized health system, and the wherewithal to become a world leader in combating the rise of COVID-19. As the virus proliferated across the globe, many of our technology companies had the agility to focus commercialization efforts where rewards were most bountiful, whether East or West, adapting to ever-changing travel rules and a new normal of online meetings, budget reductions, and an inability to deliver accurate business projections.
At Arbe, where ultra-high-resolution 4D imaging radar for the semi-autonomous vehicle space is being redefined, major multi-year-deals were still being negotiated as the Company, with a presence in both the Eastern and Western hemispheres, was able to fulfill product delivery for newly-signed deals as it had worked through supply-chain issues early on in the crisis.
With uncertainty comes opportunity, and the enterprise-software innovations coming out of Israel during this black-swan event are evidence of just that.
