MIBA Newsletter, December 2021
From our family to yours, Happy Holidays! We hope that you all enjoyed this holiday season with friends and family. With 2021 coming to an end, the MIBA is preparing for a busy and impactful 2022. We remain optimistic that in the coming year we will be able to host at least four delegations to Israel. In the near term, we are hosting two webinars, one in January and one in February. The first webinar on January 18th, will focus on information on the Michigan Israel Defense delegation this March. The second is our Israeli Defense Sector Briefing on February 1st . This is an exciting and exclusive opportunity for Michigan companies to learn more about the Israeli defense sector from representatives from the Israel – U.S. Embassy – Office of Defense Cooperation in Israel. To learn more and to register for both webinars, please see below. Also in January, the MIBA, in partnership with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), will be at the upcoming Consumer Electronic Show (CES) in Las Vegas, NV. We will accompany Lt. Governor Garlin Gilchrist II, the MEDC’s Quentin Messer Jr., and others on a visit to the Israel Pavilion. CES’s Israel Pavilion is coordinated by the Israel Expert Institute (IEI) and the Israel Economic Mission to the West CoastIf COVID restrictions allow, the Israel Pavilion will have up to 18 Israeli companies on display, representing innovation in sectors ranging from Advanced Manufacturing, Smart Mobility, and more. This is a great opportunity for the MIBA! We will provide an update and photos in January’s newsletter. As we look back on the last year, the MIBA team is thankful for your continued support and partnership with our organization. We are grateful to those who have helped with our successes over the years. We appreciate your commitment and look forward to moving into the New Year together! Your Partner in INNOVATION, The MIBA
Upcoming MIBA Events
Click Here to Register to Defense Delegation Informational Webinar
Click Here to Register for Israeli Defense Briefing
A Look at 2022
Naomi Miller, MIBA, Director of Israel Partnerships
Despite entering the third year of the global pandemic, it seems that 2022 is looking quite positive for Israel, albeit with some challenges.Over the last 12 months Israeli tech IPOs, as well as mergers and acquisitions, jumped a massive 520% over the previous year, with an unprecedented value of $81.2 billion, compared to $15.4 billion in 2020. In addition, 2021 was a record year for funding of tech companies and startups, reaching $25 billion in investments. Analysts are identifying this massive growth partly as a result of the development of a new business culture.
Today, the maturing Israeli entrepreneur is aiming to build a strong local company and take it public, rather than developing technology and then selling it, which was the model of the last two decades. This massive growth will be challenged in the coming year by the current shortage of approximately 13,000 skilled workers in the tech sector.
Israel’s Energy Minister Karine Elharrar has announced that 2022 will be the year of renewable energy. Her ministry will be setting up, for the first time, a department with funds of $320 million that will invest in a national plan for researching and developing clean energy. As a result, the Minister said, “gas can wait,” and will halt the search for natural gas off the Mediterranean coast to pursue and optimize renewable energy projects.
The last decade has seen young Israeli families discovering that home ownership is almost unattainable. Housing prices have been rising continually, and 2021 witnessed the highest rise in a decade, at 10.3%. According to the Alrov Institute for Real Estate, an average Israeli couple would both need to work 27 years to buy a standard 4-room apartment. The good news is the Bennett government has recently developed a 4-year plan from 2022 to increase the supply of housing and ultimately reduce prices, with the aim to narrow the gap between supply and demand by 2025.
I hoped we would not be writing about Covid -19 in the monthly newsletter by now, but here we are in that familiar scenario. Israel is currently closed to tourism while waiting to see what the new Omicron variant has in store for us. The good news: Israeli biotech company Bonus BioGroup has developed a cell therapy for treatment of severe cases of Covid. The recent trial had a 94% success rate, with 47 or the 50 patients surviving conditions of life-threatening respiratory distress.
Although closed off to the world, the Israeli economy is open and vibrant and Covid rates remain low. We hope 2022 will be the year of renewed tourism and that we will see you here soon.
Upcoming Events
CES 2022
January 5,2022
4:30-5:45pm
In partnership with COVESA, OFME the State of Michigan’s mobility program, is hosting “guided meet and greet tour” meetings between mobility startups, corporates, and investors during CES2022 on Wednesday, January 5th. These match meetings provide an opportunity for corporations to meet and talk to as many as 24 startup companies one-on-one to learn more about their innovative technologies while building a relationship directly with the founders.
Register Here
MIBA’s 2022 Membership Drive
MIBA’s 2022 membership is now available. We encourage you to either renew your membership or become a member to the MIBA for the year of 2022!
For more information please contact
Veronica@MichiganIsrael.com
Click Here to Become a Part of the MIBA!
Wishing you peace, health and joy!
