Matam High-Tech Park at the southern entrance to Haifa is the largest and oldest dedicated technological park in Israel. Photo: Zvi Roger / Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – Israel’s technology sector broke a new funding record this week, reaching a total of $10.5 billion raised since January.

According to the website Start-Up Nation Central, an NGO that tracks Israel’s innovation, this sum equals the amount raised during all of 2020, which was also a record year.

The increase was mostly due to foreign investors and was more than the rest of the world.

Investment in Israel jumped 137 percent in the first five months of 2021 compared to the same period in 2020, higher than the global increase of 89 percent, according to data on the tech website. Investment in Europe increased 123 percent, while in the United States, it rose by 91 percent in 2021.

“The record funding in 2021 indicates that the growth in 2020 was not a short-term COVID-related boost, but reflects top investors’ increasing trust in the Israeli innovation ecosystem,” said Uri Gabai, the incoming CEO of Start-Up Nation Central’s new Research and Policy Institute.

Most of the funding has gone to cybersecurity, fintech and Enterprise Solutions companies, making up 60 percent of all investment.