Following three straight months of raising at least $2 billion, the Israeli ecosystem continues to hit new highs. According to Start Up Nation Central (SNC), Israeli startups managed to secure the same amount of funding in the first half of 2021 as they did in all of 2020.

Almost half the total - rounds of $100M and up

The new data shows that Israeli startups have raised as a collective $10.5 billion - same as 2020 - since the 1st of January and until early last week. Additionally, SNC reports a 137% rise in investments for Israeli startups during the first half of 2021, with the global average sitting somewhere around 89%.

The new report also highlights the round median more than doubling year-over-year numbers, going from $6.8 million in 2020 to $14 million, according to last week’s rounds. Most notably, the later stage startups’ (Series B and up) median also grew, from $26 million in 2020 to $46 million so far in 2021. Similarly, early stage startups (Seed and Series A) saw their median double over the same time, from $4 million to $8 million.

On the mega-round front, of investments over $100 million, so far 2021 has shattered the records of old. Just five months into the year, and already 30 rounds of over $100 million have been reported, in comparison to only 21 mega-rounds throughout 2020. These mega-rounds represent just a smudge over half (53%) of the total capital raised since the beginning of the year.

Among the industries attracting the most investments, we highlighted 3 that reign above all - cybersecurity, FinTech, and enterprise software solutions. These three sectors alone brought in $6.2 billion, making up 60% of the ecosystem’s total capital raised from January. The reason behind this trend, is of course, the global change to our reality as we emerge from a pandemic.

"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. The significant increase in median deal size reflects a maturing ecosystem that is able to maintain its competitive edge as a global hub of technological innovation and offering problem-solving solutions. We hope a new budget by the expected incoming government will focus on growth-oriented policies such as enhancing the innovation ecosystem's economic impact and tackling the chronic shortage in tech-oriented human capital,” says Uri Gabai, the incoming CEO of Start-Up Nation Central's new Research and Policy Institute.