India Investing in Israel, Israel Updating India

India and Israel have been courting each other for nearly twelve years now, and in recent years the relationship has blossomed into a full-blown love affair. The two biggest investment firms in India are already smitten with the small, technology-based country, and now the third conglomerate is getting in on the fun. Aditya Birla has dispatched representatives to assess the current situation in Israel as a precursor for some major investments into the development of several lucky startups, and Israel is welcoming the idea with open arms.

Aditya Birla Scopes Out The Scene

The Group Executive President of Corporate Strategy and Business Development, Dev Bhattacharya, came to Israel in February with the explicit instructions to scout out the prospects. Along with several directors of various branches of Aditya Birla, Bhattacharya reviewed close to 500 startups across Israel that covered the spectrum of the technology industry. After the initial assessment, Aditya Birla will bring a select few of the chosen companies over to India to pitch their concepts to the board of investors. The lucky winners will receive a fund that will allow these companies to continue researching and developing their concepts.

The companies reviewed covered a wide range of industries including cybersecurity, water tech, financial technology, new media, and cleantech. Aditya Birla already has their hand in most industries across India, so the spread is in keeping with their current domestic practices. The company currently stands at approximately $41 million.

Previous Investments

Infosys made headlines when they bought out Panaya, a major database management service in Israel that is based on the cloud, for $200 million. This was a worthwhile investment that helped Infosys advance their service offerings and expand their reach. Tata is another smart Indian company that jumped on the Israel bandwagon early on. They have already invested in the Tel Aviv University’s Technology Innovation Momentum Fund, and Tata is looking towards their groundbreaking discoveries in several fields including pharmaceuticals, healthcare, cleantech, and software development.

According to Shlomo Nimrodi, Ramot’s CEO, “Tata is a huge company, worth $100 billion at least, but they have made a strategic decision to significantly expand that worth in the coming years, and the best way for them to do that is via innovation.” So it seems that Israeli innovations are the up and coming trends for developing economies.

A Win-Win Situation

The partnership is being viewed as a positive move for both sides of the arrangement. The Israeli startups are excited to be getting the funding to fuel further development of some concepts and technologies could very well change the face of the world. The Indian investors are also thrilled to be the recipients of these new technologies and are anxious to see what this undervalued resource of the Middle East will produce in the future. With this deal in the bag, the world can expect to see more Indian-Israel relations cropping up in the coming years.