Invest in London, mayor tells Israelis

Boris Johnson is officially opening the day’s trading at the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange before heading to the city’s Google Campus where 16 United Kingdom firms from the edtech and urban solutions sectors will try to build links with Israel’s technology leaders.

“With access to a world class talent pool and a booming digital economy it is no surprise that Israeli tech companies are making London their home and choosing the London Stock Exchange as their worldwide market for expansion”, he said.

And Mr Johnson, who worked on an Israeli communal settlement – a kibbutz – in his early 20s, is expected to say: “Whatever the criticisms of Israel may be, a few of them justified, a few of them less so, and even if it is a tragic fact that the Balfour declaration has been fulfilled more in the protasis than in the apodosi – i.e. the first clause and not the saving clause – it is still the case that Israel is the only democracy in the region, the only free country, the only pluralist society”.

According to the London Stock Exchange (LSE), technology companies make up over three quarters of all Israeli companies listed.

Headlining today’s portion of the trip is a visit to Google Campus Tel Aviv that will include a roundtable discussion including Israeli firms that have expanded to the United Kingdom, as well as London business representatives such as UK Fintech Envoy Eileen Burbidge and Chief Innovation Officer at Barclays, Derek White. Neil Small, the director of virtual reality architecture start-up Lucid, said he hoped to learn the Israeli market, and explore local technology. That’s more than half of the 239 Israeli companies with an office in the United Kingdom, according to data collected by IVC. Calling on figures sourced by CB Insights, London & Partners claims that London has generated over $1.7 billion in venture capital investment since the beginning of the year, exceeding the $1.3 billion raised in the entirety of 2014.

“London have been a great hub for us to engage and collaborate with the medical community and leading healthcare providers”, said Elad Duschak, president of AposTherapy UK. “Thanks to the support of London & Partners and UKTI Israel we have been able to expand nationally and export globally!”

Clarisite, which works with organisations to analyse how customers use services, has used Mr Johnson’s visit to confirm that London will become the home of its global headquarters.

Nikhil Rathi, the LSE’s CEO, emphasised the common interests of British investors and Israeli start-ups in financial technologies and high-tech.