IJC TIMES丨Israeli Healthtech: An Innovative Ecosystem
Time of issue:2023-09-19 14:16:52

  With You, With Innovation. New Bilingual Column---IJC Times will regularly release the latest cooperation information of Israel Jiangsu Innovation Center. Thanks for your support.

  Over the past few decades, Israel has emerged as a global leader in technological innovation. Ranking No.1 globally in R&D expenditure as a percentage of GDP, Israel excels in multiple emerging domains, including artificial intelligence, big data, machine learning, computer vision, and 3D printing. Driven by advanced technologies, the country’s healthtech sector has consistently demonstrated robust growth.

  Today the healthtech sector stands as the largest category in Israel'sentrepreneurial ecosystem and is characterized by the following features:

  First, Israeli healthtech comprises a huge number of players,covering 1,600 innovation-focused companies, more than 20% of the total number of tech companies in the country. In particular, over 700 of those companies specialize in digital health (primarily software and health service platforms); over 600 engage in the R&D and manufacturing of medical devices; more than 450 operate in pharmaceutical and biomedicine industries.

  Second, Israel’s healthtech sector boasts formidable R&D capabilities.Israel houses over 70 innovation centers and R&D facilities of dozens of multinationals and global tech corporations. Thanks to its advanced public healthcare system, entrepreneurial culture, and robust technological prowess, Israel has become a top destination for companies that are developing innovative medical and health technologies. Industry giants like Microsoft, IBM, AWS, Google, Pfizer, AstraZeneca, and Medtronic have all established R&D teams in Israel. Meanwhile, these multinationals also represent excellent platforms for other Israeli healthtech firms to enter the global market and validate the reliability of their technologies.

  Third, the sector offers strong investment dynamics.At the moment, over 250 VC firms, including government investment initiatives, are active in Israel’s health industry. In 2022, the largest investors in this sector were OurCrowd, which invested in 20 startups, and eHealthVentures, which invested in 7 startups. They were closely followed by Israeli fund aMoon and U.S. VC firm Insight Partners, each investing in 6 startups. In 2022, Israeli healthtech startups raised over $2 billion.

  Further, in Israel’s healthtech sector, nearly all hospitals, healthcare organizations, and universities are equipped with a Technology Transfer Office (TTO) to facilitate the commercialization of academic innovations. As they bring the latest progress from the labs of leading institutions to the healthcare industry, TTOs play a key role in driving the commercialization and industrialization of research breakthroughs.