The country's startups have raised well over $6 billion in 2018 - a new record.
Israeli startups raised over $400 million in December, according to press releases issued by companies that completed financing rounds. The figure may be more as some companies prefer not to publicize the investments they have received.
This sum can be added to the $4.5 billion that Israeli startups raised in the first nine months of 2018, according to IVC-ZAG as well as the estimated $1.2 billion raised in October and November. This means that the country's startups have raised a record $6.1 billion since the start of 2018, easily surpassing last year's record of $5.24 billion.
Most of the sum in December was raised in large financing rounds led by medical cannabis smart inhaler company Syqe Medical, which raised $50 million and public transport optimization algorithm company Optibus, which raised $40 million. Conversation intelligence platform Chorus.ai raised $33 million, heart failure treatment company WhiteSwell raised $30 million, Sight Diagnostics raised $28 million, and cybersecurity company Avanan and primary care app company K Health each raised $25 million.