Israeli technology companies raised $6.9 billion in 2023 in 392 financing rounds, IVC Research-LeumiTech reports, down 56% from 2022. In the fourth quarter of 2023, which was especially challenging because of the war, which began in October, Israeli tech companies raised $1.45 billion in 75 financing rounds, down a relatively moderate 15% from the corresponding quarter of 2022, with a rise in the number of seed rounds completed.
IVC-LeumiTech's report found that the amount raised in seed rounds completed by Israeli startups has been consistently rising since the second quarter of 2023. The amount raised in these seed financing rounds totaled $220 million - a relatively high figure from a historical perspective, according to the report. However, the number of such seed financing rounds completed in the fourth quarter was only 31, a relatively low figure compared with the preceding quarters but within the range of the number of financing rounds of this kind between 2015 and 2019.
The total amount raised in 2023 reflects the level of fund raising in 2018 and 2019. The number of financing rounds completed in 2023 was down 44% from last year.
The report also found that foreign investors have not been deterred by the Israel-Hamas war. Foreign investors (defined in the report as entities whose offices are not in Israel).
Moreover, according to the report's findings, the involvement of foreign investors in deals increased proportionally during the current year, compared with a continued decrease in the size of local investors' participation in deals in the current quarter.
LeumiTech CEO Maya Eisen Zafrir said, "In lne with global trends in the tech market, 2023 reflects a return to investment levels and the scale of activities that we saw in 2018 and 2019, prior to the peak and relatively exceptional years of 2020-2022. To the challenging global macroeconomic environment must be added the difficult events and fighting of the last few months, which raise the bar challenging Israeli high-tech in the global environment.
"In the face of all this, the fourth quarter data, which show a relatively moderate fall of 15% and a clear rise in the investment data in seed stages, indicate the high resilience of Israel's high-tech industry and is an important reminder of the very vital role that this sector has in the Israeli economy, especially these days."
IVC's high-tech report reviews Israel's high-tech activity, which includes capital raising, mergers and acquisitions, as well as stock market activity, and reflects initial insights on theentire past year, which includes estimates of capital raising as well as insights into the future, and in particular, insights about the quarter current this year." The data in the report is taken from the IVC database, and the report as a whole summarizes the activities of Israeli high-tech companies or those with Israeli ties between 2015 and 2023.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on December 28, 2023.
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