According to a new report by IVC Research Centre and law firm Meitar, Israeli exits in the first half of 2019 (H1 2019) reached a record of $14.48 billion ($7.58 billion excluding $6.9 billion Mellanox Technologies acquisition). This represents 123% growth compared to H1 2018 at $6.49 billion.
Less exits, but higher value
The number of deals between $100 million and $1 billion was a record high, with 23 deals in H1/2019, compared with 7 deals in H1/2018 and 18 deals in 2018. While the total number of exits (IPOs, M&A and buyouts) in H1/2019 was 66 compared with 73 in H1/2018, the average exit value in H1 2019 reached $116.6 million (excluding exits of $5 billion and above).
The IPO window is open
Four IPOs in H1/19 raised $231 million – Fiverr, Tufin, Podium and Splitit. Two of them were in the US:
- Fiverr raised $110m in NYSE.
- Tufin raised $108m in NYSE.
As many as 40 Israeli companies are expected to go public in the next year, according to Gilad Shany, a managing partner and co-founder of ION Crossover Partners (source).
I'm a former general partner at google ventures, head of Google for Entrepreneurs in Europe and founding head of Campus London, Google's first physical hub for startups.
I'm also the founder of Techbikers, a non-profit bringing together the startup ecosystem on cycling challenges in support of Room to Read. Since inception in 2012 we've built 11 schools and 50 libraries in the developing world.
