Tel Aviv is still among the world’s top unicorn producers — for now

Despite recent economic turbulence, Tel Aviv is still one of the world’s top producers of unicorns (start-ups valued at $1 billion), according to a new report conducted by the Municipality of Tel Aviv-Yafo in collaboration with Dutch research firm Dealroom.

Per the report, which focuses on the involvement and promotion of the city's technological ecosystem, Tel Aviv-Yafo ranks 5th in the world in the production of unicorn companies, with 76% of the start-ups founded in Tel Aviv choosing to stay and operate in the city.

Also, according to the report, Tel Aviv-Yafo is ranked 3rd among all the cities in the EMEA region ****for the total venture capital investments raised in 2022, and the value of Tel Aviv’s start-ups is now $393 billion, 3.5 times more than it was in 2018.

Startups located in Tel Aviv raised 6.9 billion dollars in 2022

The startups located in Tel Aviv raised 6.9 billion dollars in 2022, almost 2 times more than in 2020. The cyber field is the industry in which the highest sums were invested — to the tune of $1.7 billion — and the health sector is one of the fastest growing, having shot up by 33%.

"Congratulations to our city. I am proud of the fact that the city of Tel Aviv-Yafo is ranked so highly,” said Tel Aviv-Yafo mayor Ron Huldai. “These are the achievements of democracy, freedom and human rights, which lead to the amazing creativity and achievements of the local hi-tech industry in the past year.”

Huldai took time to address the government’s judicial overhaul, which many experts around the world believe to be a major current threat to Israel’s hi-tech industry (and by extension, its economy).

“We must not forget precisely in the current period, when democracy in Israel is in crisis, that the hi-tech industry flourished mainly thanks to values such as freedom, liberality and equal rights. A threat to these values is imminent. A disaster for the Israeli economy in general and the hi-tech industry in particular, when the consequences of the destructive legislation can already be seen; the fall of the shekel, Tel Aviv technology companies transferring workers to other countries, [and] the cessation of investments in Israel,” he said.

“The legislation must be stopped immediately so that the hi-tech industry and [both] Tel Aviv’s and the nation’s economies are not even more harmed,” Huldai concluded. “We in Tel Aviv-Yafo will continue to be committed to the democratic values that underlie our existence while strengthening the local hi-tech industry."