Average investment per company: $3.92 million
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High-tech investments set 11-year record
IVC reports Israeli or Israel-affiliated companies raised $2.14 billion from foreign, Israeli investors – highest amount since dot-com crash
In 2011, 546 Israeli or Israel-affiliated
high-tech companies raised a total of $2.14 billion from Israeli and foreign VC investors, according to a report by the Israel Capital Venture Research Center (IVC) and KMPG.
This is the highest amount raised in the past 11 years since the dot-com crash last decade.
Making it Big
Tani Goldstein
Dozens of start-up companies founded by Israeli Arab entrepreneurs in north in recent years. Some view it as solution for Arab engineers' unemployment, while others say, 'We want to create high-tech, not a ghetto'
The figure reflects an increase of nearly 70% as measured against the $1.26 billion raised by 391 companies in 2010, and a 91% increase as compare with the $1.12 billion raised in 2009.
IVC and Money Tree released different figures due to the fact that IVC includes a larger number of companies in its calculations, including companies that are indirectly connected to Israel such as those founded by Israelis or Israeli activity in Silicon Valley.
According to IVC, the average investment per company was $3.92 million in 2011; $3.23 billion in 2010; and $2.51 in 2009.
A total of 124 Israeli high-tech companies raised $569 million from Israeli and foreign VC investors on the fourth quarter of 2011, constituting a 9% raise as compared with $522 million raised by 137 companies in the previous quarter and a 65% leap from the $344 million raised by 100 companies in the fourth quarter of 2010.
The average amount per round per company was $4.59 million for the fourth quarter of 2011, as compared with $3.81 in the previous quarter and $3.44 million in the same quarter the year before.
Foreigners are coming
In the fourth quarter of the previous year, 77 companies raised more than $1 million each. Five of the companies raised over $20 million, 13 companies raised $10-20 million each, and 17 companies raised between $5 million and $10 million each.
In 2011, the amount raised by Israeli companies in financing rounds for foreign investors alone was $785 million or 37% - the highest in the past decade. For comparison's sake, in 2010 only $269 million were raised from foreign investors (21% of the investments) and in 2009 - $ 205 million (18%).
In the fourth quarter of 2011, foreign investments amounted to $218 million – an 8% decline from the $236 million in the previous quarter, which had the highest amount of foreign investments in the past decade.
Click here to read this report in Hebrew
