Israeli healthcare startups are going global and creating innovative products to address healthcare challenges across the world.

Israel is considered to be one of the most innovative countries in the world. It has one of the best-established startup ecosystems and is considered a pioneer in the technology industry. Israel has also made great strides in establishing itself as a leading innovator in the digital health space. With around 400 companies in digital health, strong life sciences and medical research support from academic and medical institutions, favourable government policies and availability of generous funding from incubators, accelerators and venture capital firms, Israel has become a powerhouse in the digital health space. Leading global companies have lined up in Israel to take advantage of its innovation prowess in the healthcare space. Israeli healthcare startups are going global and creating innovative products to address healthcare challenges across the world. The increasing size of the digital health ecosystem in Israel is backed by investors worldwide, including Chinese investors, who are eyeing Israel to solve their nation’s healthcare problems, and leading life sciences companies from western countries such as the US, which are making Israel a hotbed for their innovation pursuits. Industry overview – size and growth rate According to a recent report by Start-Up Nation, investments in this sector grew around 30% in 2016 to $183m, with over 70% being grabbed by personal health tools and health analytics companies alone. A total of 56% of digital health companies in this nation are still at the seed or R&D stage, which suggests the country is sitting on a mine of opportunities and innovation. According to the Times of Israel, there are around 1,350 active life sciences companies in Israel, out of which 612 were found between 2007 and 2016. A total of 20% of all investments in high tech went to the healthcare sector alone in 2016. Industry overview – focus areas The health analytics sector is the prime beneficiary of funding in the past couple of years, garnering 59% and 32% of total funding received in 2015 and 2016 respectively. The clinical workflow sector also received funding to the tune of $55m in 2016. Another notable sector was wearables and sensors which commanded 25% of total investments in 2016. Digital health companies in Israel have become highly focused on empowering patients, resulting in strong growth of companies offering personal health tools. As a result, 65% of companies are either following a business-to-consumer or business-to-business-to-consumer business model. Health analytics technology has become the core of such companies offering personal health tools. The…

Subscribe to go deeper

GCV subscribers get access to all our proprietary data and deep-dive articles, as well as the global directory of CVC investors.



Not sure if you have a subscription?