Israel was on its way to another high in terms of startup growth and funding, until COVID-19 hit. During the first quarter, Israeli high-tech firms raised $2.74 billion, in a total of 139 deals. This represents an increase of 76% from the first quarter of 2019 and compares to $2.34 billion, in a total of 138 deals raised during the fourth quarter of 2019. The largest single deal was made by Via Transport, which raised $400 million.
However, since the first signs of the looming COVID-19 crisis, only four seed rounds have been funded. It is too soon to know for sure, but, Israeli startups that have not recently raised significant funds, or are not near-cash positive, may find the coming months a considerable challenge. VC money is expected to become harder to obtain amidst the global pandemic and economic recession/depression.
