As a country known as the "Land of Entrepreneurship and Innovation", Israel's technology entrepreneurship atmosphere is among the highest in the world. With a population of just over 9 million, thousands of startups, and hundreds of multinational companies, including global tech giants, Israel has set up R&D centers.
According to the analysis of capital market data research firm PitchBook, Israel ranked second in the world in terms of per capita venture capital investment in 2022, only in Singapore, followed by countries such as the United States, Switzerland, Finland and the United Kingdom, and the book "Startup Country" also mentioned that Israeli companies have a high survival rate of 60%, and these startups have a very high turnover rate, which can quickly industrialize innovative technological achievements or get capital bets from large companies.
Tel Aviv, Israel's second largest city and economic and cultural center
Israel ranked 7th overall in the 2021 Bloomberg Innovation Index rankings, but its R&D intensity (i.e., R&D investment as a percentage of GDP) ranked first in the world for four consecutive years. Even as the pandemic hit the global economy, capital continued to flow into Israel, with Israeli tech companies raising up to $25.6 billion in 2021, breaking the 2020 record of $10.3 billion, and 6.9% of global VC investments across Industry 4.0 in 2014.
Where does Israel's innovative strength come from?
Behind such an irreplaceable position, how did Israel achieve the innovative strength it has today? Some analysts pointed out that the source of Israel's innovation not only comes from the idea of Jews who pursue the inherent wisdom of challenge, but also is inseparable from the country's ill-fated and troubled history and environment, and they must have courage and resourcefulness to survive in this land surrounded by strong enemies and lacking natural resources.
Secondly, Israel has a unique innovation strength, not only from the wisdom of individuals, but more importantly, from a good innovation ecosystem. In this system, the business community, universities, scientific research institutions, governments, financial institutions, etc. establish close ties, the Israeli Innovation Agency is regarded as the most important "hand of government", according to Xinhuanet, the Innovation Bureau has 500 million US dollars of financial funds every year, special loans to startups in the field of science and technology loan interest rate is almost zero, at the same time, 30% to 50% of the research and development funds of startups, or even 85% can come from the Innovation Bureau loans.
Guive Balooch, head of L'Oréal's technology incubator, has said publicly: "We have always considered Israel to be a key area for us to work together because they have an incredible ecosystem of startups. We have been actively working with many startups in artificial intelligence, computational science, personalization, climate technology, and more, and in order to create the beauty technology of the future, we need these powerful assets. ”
The result of a collaboration between L'Oréal and Israeli technology company Coloright – a hair coloring system that incorporates artificial intelligence
Jennifer Elias, founder of Tech It Forward, an Israeli innovation agency, said: "We realize that Israeli startups are excellent in innovative and original technologies, they can benefit from an outsider's perspective with an international perspective, and Israel's tech ecosystem is exceptionally strong, especially in technology, biotechnology, virtual retail and retail technology. ”
The maker of beauty device giants
In the field of medical cosmetology, Israel can be called a pioneer force, in the optics, laser technology, radio frequency technology and other fields, Israel has a deep accumulation, at the same time the country is also a medical device, biomedicine R & D and production country, not only a large number of medical beauty projects were born, many "black technology" in the field of skin care also originated here.
In the popular medical beauty equipment and equipment in China, most of the companies behind it are from Israel or have an Israeli background, such as Fitton, Doctor Ren, Sinoron, Medima, etc., occupying more than half of the market share of China's optoelectronic medical beauty equipment, the above companies provide Chinese consumers well-known photon rejuvenation, picosecond, ultrasound cannon and red and blue light and other medical beauty projects that explode the market.
Israeli beauty device brand Newa
Israel's advanced scientific and technological foundation has promoted the rapid development of the global medical aesthetic device industry, and also attracted the early intervention of capital consortiums in market development, in 2013, Fosun Pharma's holding subsidiary Furui Medical Technology acquired 95.6% of the equity of Israel Fitton Laser Co., Ltd. for US$240 million; Chinese medical beauty company Helvar Medical also took control of Medimed in 2014, and the company's Newa home beauty device series is a hot seller in the Chinese market.
In the home beauty device market, RF instruments are more popular and recognized by consumers, and Israel relies on top RF technology and R&D strength, rigorous clinical effectiveness certification and long-term safety history, so that beauty devices made in Israel gradually establish a safe, reliable and effective image in the minds of consumers.
Israeli beauty device brand Tripollar
In the Chinese home beauty device market dominated by the "beauty economy", Israel's three major brands Tripollar, Newa and Silk'n facetite have steadily seized consumer share with RF beauty devices.
Taking Tripollar as an example, the brand entered the Chinese market in 2014, achieved rapid sales growth in 2020, and became a member of the "Tmall Global 100 Million Dollar Club" in fiscal year 2021, and is also a frequent visitor to the Double 11 beauty device TOP3 list.
Israeli Dead Sea mineral skincare brand Ahava
In the traditional beauty and skincare market, leading international beauty groups and investors are also looking to Israel. In 2016, Fosun Group acquired Ahava, a mineral skincare brand from Israel's Dead Sea; L Catterton, the world's largest consumer goods private equity fund, also acquired a minority stake in Israeli makeup brand Il Makiage in 2017.
A source of innovation in cutting-edge technology
However, Israel's potential in beauty tech goes far beyond that, with startups with diverse technical backgrounds from artificial intelligence to blockchain bringing more unexpected possibilities to the beauty industry.
MeNow! Hilla Ben-Hamo Arbel, co-founder of a platform that uses big data to help people make personalized skincare product choices, said that an individual's lifestyle, skin color, as well as family history and diseases such as diabetes can have a big impact on the skin, she said: "There is no longer a need for more products in this world, but for the right match with consumers." "MeNow! can help consumers and merchants achieve a win-win situation, choose more suitable skin care products for consumers, and achieve more repeat purchase rates and retention rates for brands.
Il Makiage's parent company, Oddity, announced last April the launch of the Oddity token, a digital token built on Ethereum that will be digitally converted into Oddity Class A common stock at the company's IPO, at a price 20% lower than the IPO price. With this move, Oddity claims that it became the first non-crypto company to link digital securities to equity.
Il Makiage also acquired Israeli hyperspectral imaging software company Voyage81 in 2021 for more than $40 million to boost its machine learning capabilities and lay the technological foundation for launching new brands in the beauty and wellness sectors.
The Makiage
Over the years, Israel has gradually created a high, precise and cutting-edge national image for itself in the beauty industry, whether it is radio frequency laser medical beauty equipment, or professional skin care products and home beauty equipment, have been favored by consumers and capital, and have never stopped the pace of progress in the new round of scientific and technological revolution in the beauty industry.
At the same time, Israel's scientific and technological research does not stop at the scope of concepts, but its ability to accelerate the realization of advanced concepts and develop products suitable for more people, thereby creating the most practical business value, is the reason why Israel's beauty technology is in a leading position in the world. WWD