Being a unicorn these days is getting to be less and less of a special thing, at least in Israel. Maybe they will need to raise the definition of a unicorn from $1 billion plus to over $10 billion. Either that or they will have to start calling them rabbits instead of unicorns.
Here are the biggest unicorn stories that came out of Israel Startup Nation in May.
Deel co-founders Shuo Wang and Alex Bouaziz. Photo Business Wire
Deel Now Super Unicorn – Worth $12 Billion
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Deel, an Israeli startup and unicorn that deals with payroll solutions for firms with international staff, is now worth $12 billion. So, what should we call a company that is 12 times a unicorn?
So Deel has more than doubled its value since hitting a $5.5 billion valuation last October with a $425 million Series D round of funding.
Founded in 2018 by Israeli Alex Bouaziz. 28, a French Jew who immigrated to Israel, and Chinese entrepreneur Shuo Wang, Deel offers a global payroll solution which it says helps businesses hire anyone, anywhere. Using a tech enabled self-serve process, the company boasts that its users can now hire independent contractors or full time employees in over 150 countries, compliantly and in minutes.
Starkware founders L_R Uri Kolodny, CEO and Eli Ben-Sasson, President. StarkWare builds technology to scale blockchain so it can be more widely used. Credit Natalie Schor
re Raises $100 Million Series D At $8 Billion Valuation
In less than a year, the valuation of the Israeli startup StarkWare which provides scalability and privacy solutions for blockchain technology, increased fourfold. StarkWare raised $100 million in May giving it an $8 billion valuation.
StarkWare has developed a novel way for blockchain-based computation that is utilized by some of the world’s most prominent platforms and apps. Initially, clients could only access StarkWare’s technologies through its scaling engine, StarkEx.
Optibus team company pic
Optibus Becomes Unicorn After Raising $100 Million At $1.3 Billion Valuation
Israeli startup Optibus, a developer of an end-to-end software platform for public transportation planning and operations, raised $100 million in Series D fundraising at a valuation of $1.3 billion.
Optibase has raised $260 million to date, making it the first unicorn in the public transportation industry.
Unit co-founders Doron Somech and Itai Damti Unit
Unit Finance Is Latest Israeli Unicorn At $1.2 Billion Valuation
Unit Finance, an Israeli fintech startup that helps tech companies build financial features into their products, became a unicorn in May. The company acquired that coveted status when it hit a $1.2 billion valuation with a $100 million Series C Raise led by Jeff Horing of Insight Partners.
Founded in 2019, Unit Finance helps tech companies build financial features into their products: accounts, cards, payments and lending. Unit’s Dashboard and suite of APIs, SDKs, and white-labeled UIs enables developers to build financial features into their product — cards, accounts, payments and lending.
Lior Gavish and Barr Moses/ Credit Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo Data Quality Startup Is A Unicorn After Fourth Funding Round In Two Years
Monte Carlo, an Israeli-American startup specializing in data observability technology, closed a $135 million Series D funding round in May, leaving it with a $1.6 billion valuation.
Founded in 2019 by Lior Gavish and Barr Moses. Moses served as vice president of customer operations at Gainsight, advising Fortune 500 firms on how to leverage data as a competitive advantage. Lior Gavish, was previously SVP of Engineering at Barracuda, where he developed fraud detection solutions backed by data, machine learning, and analytics.
