Lead singer of Irish rock band U2 Paul David Hewson, better known as Bono, has invested in Israeli recycling company UBQ Materials that converts waste into a recyclable plastic substitute.

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On Wednesday, UBQ Materials announced a $170 million funding round led by TPG Rise, TPG investment firm's global impact investing platform.

The investment was made through TPG Rise Climate, the firm's dedicated climate investing fund, and The Rise Funds, its longstanding, multi-sector impact investing fund. Bono is on The Rise Funds board of directors.

UBQ Materials turns landfill-destined municipal solid waste, into a climate-positive, cost-competitive, and fully recyclable plastic substitute.

A sustainable replacement to plastic, wood, or concrete, it can be used both on its own and in conjunction with conventional oil-based resins to offset the overall carbon footprint of end-products in industries including construction, automotive, logistics, retail, and even 3D printing.

The investment will fund UBQ's global expansion to meet growing demand, beginning with a large-scale facility in the Netherlands to be operational by the end of 2022. Funds will also go into UBQ's continued research to advance certifications, research, and development of new products.

"As countries and industries converged in Glasgow at COP26, negotiating the urgent benchmarks we must hit in lowering greenhouse gas emissions, this investment could not come at a more apt time," Albert Douer, chairman and co-CEO of UBQ Materials said. "Through the prevention of landfill-related methane emissions and the replacement of carbon-intensive raw materials, UBQ can support governments, brands and major manufacturers in achieving their sustainable development goals."

According to UBQ Materials, over 2 billion tons of municipal solid waste are produced annually around the world, more than 70% of which end up in landfills or is openly dumped. Landfills are the third-largest human source of methane, a greenhouse gas emission 80 times more powerful than carbon dioxide over 20 years.

"Waste is not the end, it is only the beginning," Jack Bigio, co-founder, and co-CEO of UBQ Materials said. "This financing round enables us to widen the reach of our patented conversion technology and novel material, bringing us closer to a functioning circular economy worldwide."

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Israel's high-tech sector experienced a record year in 2021 as startups raised $25.4 billion from January to November, while 33 companies reached unicorn status with valuations of $1 billion or more, according to a report published Monday by Start-Up Nation Central (SNC).

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Compared to $10.8 billion raised in 2020, this year's figure represents a 136% increase.

"Two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, the Israeli tech ecosystem is stronger than ever," said Avi Hasson, CEO of SNC.

"In a world where digital has become the default, Israel is a world-class source of solutions to global challenges."

Funding in Israeli startups and companies was 71% more than the global average, as shown by data compiled by the research firm Pitchbook.

"This… raises the question of whether Israel has made the transition from being the Start-Up Nation to the Scale-Up Nation," Hasson said.

Hasson also pointed out that Israeli companies were dealing with a shortage of qualified employees, with tens of thousands of high tech jobs unfilled. According to Hasson, SNC was extending a had to Israeli tech firms by launching training programs for high-tech workers and helping connect Israeli entrepreneurs to governments, corporations, and investors.

The three largest sectors in terms of funding were fintech, enterprise IT and data infrastructure, and security technologies, the SNC report said.

Israel also saw 33 privately-held technology companies join the billion-dollar club in 2021, bringing the total number of unicorns (companies valued at $1 billion or more) in the country to 53.

The new unicorns include biotech firm Immunai; robotics startup Fabric; cybersecurity startup Wiz; fintech firm Melio; and music app maker JoyTunes.

This article was first published by i24NEWS.

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Six months after Apple Pay became available in Israel, smartphone users can now enjoy Google Pay.

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Google Pay can be used for purchases of over 300 shekels ($96) and is available for free download from Google Store.

To use Google Pay, a smartphone user is identified via code or fingerprint. Then they hold their device up to a business' payment terminal, and the transaction is processed. Google Pay can be used at any business set up to take EMV contact-free payments.

The Bank of Israel has instructed all businesses in Israel to install EMV systems, and the process is expected to be completed in the coming months.

In a related development, starting Tuesday, Android users who have Max credit cards are now able to use Google Pay rather than the Max smartphone app.

According to Max CEO Ron Fainaro, payment via smartphone in Israel is gaining traction a growing at an average rate of 10% per month.

"Most of the users, almost 60%, are under age 40. About 20% are aged 41-50, and the rest are over 51. I'm certain that Google Pay will increase even more the use of smartphones as a key payment method," Fainaro said.

Since Apple Pay became an option for Israeli iPhone users, the number of payment transactions conducted by smartphone jumped by several hundred percent. However, smartphone payment still comprises only some 7% of digital payments in Israel.

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Swiss luxury watchmaker Audemars Piguet is opening its first retail outlet in Israel on Rothschild Blvd. in Tel Aviv, the company has announced.

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The new space will be one of 10 that Audemars Piguet plans to open worldwide by the end of 2022, and will measure 280 square meters (3,013 square feet) of ground-floor space in a historic Art Deco building. In addition to its watches, the Tel Aviv AP store will offer a bar, lounge space, and patio.

Currently, AP operates 75 stores and boutiques globally, including seven in the Middle East.

It takes eight months to assemble a single AP watch, and the company produces only 45,000 a year. Prices for an AP timepiece begin at 58,000 shekels ($18,365).

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The cabinet on Sunday approved former Labor leader Amir Peretz's appointment as chairman of the Israel Aerospace Industries. The move contradicted the decision of the government's advisory committee on public service appointments, which voted against the nomination.

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Defense Minister Benny Gantz nominated Peretz, but the advisory committee opposed the choice, citing Peretz's lack of experience at such companies as well as his ties to Gantz.

The Movement for Quality Government lambasted the cabinet for "bypassing the professionals while ignoring their jobs."

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Renewable energy options in Israel are "near zero," and the country will have no alternative to building additional power stations, an economist for the energy sector in the Budget Department of the Finance Ministry Ido Mor said Tuesday.

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Speaking at the 18^th Israel Energy and Business Convention 2021 at the Kfar Maccabiah Hotel in Ramat Gan, Mor said that "Israel was under-performing in terms of renewable energies, but even if we meet the goals we will have no choice other than to plan and build more power stations."

Mor said that the government's goal of transitioning Israel to 20% renewable energy by 2025 would "require a herculean effort, and we need to prepare for the possibility we won't meet it."

"In any case, moving the economy to electricity in the long term is more important than the short term, and we will need to ensure a supply of electricity when we bring a metro, light trains, electric trains, and more on line. All this requires preparation and more power stations," Mor said.

Chen Herzog, chief economist at BDO Israel, sounded more decisive and told the conference that "it is not feasible to meet the government's goal of 20% renewable energies by 2025," and that "so we don't have excuses in 2030, there need to be goals that can be met, rather than utopian ones."

According to Herzog, regulators would have to admit that Israel would not meet its 2025 goal and take steps to reduce emissions rather that focus solely on renewable energies: "For example, accelerating the developing of electric transportation and construction efficient power stations, as well as developing a competitive market for renewable energies."

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The Bank of Israel purchased tens of millions of dollars Tuesday to stem the rise of the New Israeli Shekel after earlier in the day the US Dollar hit a 25 year low against the shekel, officially dropping below the benchmark 3.10 NIS to 1 dollar rate, a threshold the bank had hoped to avoid crossing.

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The Euro also dropped sharply against the New Israeli Shekel and was traded on Tuesday at an exchange rate of NIS 3.511 to 1 euro.

At the end of official trading, the Bank of Israel set the Dollar to NIS exchange rate at $1 to 3.09 NIS. The dollar lost -0.387% of its value in total against the NIS on Tuesday.

A strong NIS is good for Israeli consumers and tourists. It makes traveling abroad cheaper because the NIS increases in value in relation to local currencies. And since airfares and hotel rates are set in either Dollars or Euros, for the most part, when the NIS rises, it costs Israelis less to buy the same item. This also makes foreign imports less expensive for the Israeli consumer.

There is a downside to Israel's economy, however. The strong NIS means foreign investors in Israeli startups get less value for their money. It also means less spending by foreign tourists since their dollars and euros do not go as far. And it also makes Israeli exports more expensive to foreign buyers.

This is not just a problem of a weak US Dollar due to America's fiscal and financial policies vis-à-vis debt and government spending as a percentage of GDP. All of the world's major convertible currencies were down against the NIS.

The British Pound fell -0.247% on Tuesday and finished trading at a rate of NIS 4.1564 to the pound.

As reported by Israel Hayom on Tuesday, in the coming days, Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman is expected to declare a series of steps to encourage exporters and compensate them over the strengthening NIS. Over the past year, the NIS has strengthened by over 10% against the US Dollar.

BOI Governor Prof. Amir Yaron views the rising inflation in the world as temporary, said: "The market picture is completely different now, and the strengthening NIS could somewhat curb global inflation."

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Israel's economy is expected to grow 7.1% in 2021 and 4.7% in 2022, the Finance Ministry said on Monday in updated forecasts following a rapid recovery from the COVID-19 crisis.

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The ministry had previously projected 5.1% growth this year. Its forecasts are largely in line with the Bank of Israel's forecast of 7% this year and 5.5% in 2022.

After the economy shrank in 2020 and early in 2021, Israel in March emerged from its third coronavirus lockdown amid a rapid vaccination rollout. The economy grew 16.6% in the second quarter at an annual rate from the prior three months.

Preliminary gross domestic product data from the third quarter are due on Tuesday, with GDP expected to grow an annualized 6% according to a Reuters poll of economists.

In 2019, Israel's economy grew 3.8%.

In its updated forecasts, the ministry's economists said they took into account the latest wave of COVID-19 infections that did bring the strict restrictions in activities that the government implemented in previous waves.

Private spending, Israel's main economic growth driver, is expected to grow 13.1% this year and 7.5% next year after a drop in 2020 while exports are recovering due to resiliency in the country's high tech sector.

The ministry forecasts an inflation rate of 2.8% in 2021 and 2.1% in 2022 - within the government's annual 1-3% target. The central bank has said it saw some inflation pressures as transitory, while Israel's strong shekel was helping keep imported prices under control. read more

At the same time, tax revenues have surged 25% in 2021 and are expected to be 16.5 billion shekels ($5.3 billion) and 14 billion shekels higher than projected for 2021 and 2022, respectively.

Israeli lawmakers earlier this month approved the 2021 and 2022 state budgets, the first time a budget had been ratified in more than 3 1/2 years.

Also on Monday, the Central Bureau of Statistics said that the Consumer Price Index rose by only 0.1% in October 2021, noting the figure was well below the projected 0.4%-0.5%.

Over the past 12 months, the CPI rose by 2.3%. Since the beginning of the year, the CPI added 2.6%.

Bank of Israel Governor Professor Amir Yaron recently said that the expected inflation rate in 2021 would be close to 3% this year.

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Johnson & Johnson is peeling off a consumer health business that helped it become the world's biggest health care products maker.

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The 135-year-old company said Friday that it will separate its segment that sells Band-Aids, Listerine and over-the-counter medicines like Tylenol from its pharmaceutical and medical device businesses.

The split, which will create another publicly-traded company for the consumer health side, will make each business more nimble in adapting to their respective markets. The company said it was aiming to complete the separation in 18 to 24 months at a cost of $500 million to $1 billion.

J&J CEO Alex Gorsky said that while the company's broad focus has worked in the past, the split addresses segments that "have evolved as fundamentally different businesses."

"We've seen a significant evolution in these markets, particularly on the consumer side," Gorsky said, referring in part to a shift toward online shopping that accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The move by the world's largest health products company follows similar announcements by conglomerates Toshiba, General Electric, and other J&J rivals, and underscores how big, diversified corporations are under pressure to simplify their structures to increase focus.

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Four Israeli inventions have made it into Time Magazine's annual list of 100 best inventions "that are making the world better, smarter and even a bit more fun," the publication announced Wednesday.

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The four inventions and companies are ElectReon wireless vehicle-charging technology in the transportation category; SupPlant ag-tech solution in the smarter-farming category; OrCam Read in the accessibility category; and Percepto AIM for automated inspections in the artificial intelligence category.

ElectReon invented an in-road wireless electric vehicle charging technology for commercial, public, and passenger vehicles. The charging infrastructure wirelessly charges EVs on the road when they are in motion or at rest. The company is working on pre-commercial projects in Germany, Italy, Sweden, and Israel with plans to expand into North America.

SupPlant uses sensors to monitor crops' temperature and moisture, providing highly accurate instructions for farmers in 14 countries to maximize yields. An approach without sensors, intended for 450 million "smallholder" farmers in the developing world, is coming next.

OrCam Read is a first-of-its-kind handheld device with a smart camera that seamlessly reads text from any printed surface or digital screen. It is intended for people with mild low vision, reading fatigue, reading difficulties including dyslexia, and for anyone who consumes large amounts of text.

Percepto Autonomous Inspection and Monitoring software solution for industrial sites employs drones and robots to automate inspections, emergency response, and security. From data capture to AI-powered insights and reports, Percepto AIM is used by Fortune 500 companies around the world. The 2022 AIM upgrade will be unveiled on Nov. 17 and features AI-powered analytics for specific sectors such as solar, mining, energy, and oil and gas.

To assemble the 2021 list, Time Magazine solicited nominations from its editors and correspondents around the world, as well as through an online application process. It then evaluated each contender on factors including originality, creativity, efficacy, ambition, and impact.

The original version of this story was printed on JNS.org and was reprinted with their permission.

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