Isrealitech startups are humming along, raising $1.55 billion in 128 deals in the first quarter (Q1) of 2019. This marks a 28 percent increase in capitala and a 15 percent increase in the number of deals compared to last year’s first quarter.
There were also three deals of $50 million or more this past quarter, with cybersecurity startup Cato Networks raising $55 million in January, cloud technology startup Redis Labs raising $60 million, and Lightbits raising $50 million.
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In Q1 2019, according to the report, deals higher than $20 million were responsible for 64 percent of the total amount invested, while seed and smaller rounds in the $0m–$5m range accounted for less than seven percent, continuing a downward trend observed since late 2015.
There was a major increase in deals that were between $5 million and $20 million (46 total) and that accounted for 40 percent of the overall deals this quarter, according to the study.
The most noted figure in the report was for C Round deals, with Israeli companies raising some $476 million in 17 deals, the highest figures since 2014.
Deals backed by VCs amounted to 71 in Q1 2019, compared to 57 non-VC-backed investments. The former accounted for $1.3 billion of the total raised this quarter, an amount that is lesser than the $1.5 billion raised in VC-backed deals in 2018’s Q4, but the highest in recent years.
“Israeli high-tech opened the year 2019 with momentum, said Shmulik Zysman, founder and managing director at ZAG-S&W. “We are particularly optimistic as the first quarter of 2019 was the most successful first quarter in the past six years, both in terms of total funding and number of transactions. Another reason for optimism is the high involvement of venture capital funds in the amount of capital invested – one of the highest in the last five years”.
Diane Israel is a Chicago native and long-time supporter and advocate of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). She is also famous for her culinary recipes. Diane can be reached at Diane@IsraelOnIsrael.com
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