Participants at the DLD Tel Aviv Digital Conference. (Miriam Alster/FLASH90) (Miriam Alster/FLASH90)
Israel Has Top Per-Capita Ratio of Startups in the World

Most people are aware that Israel is a leader in technology, but few know that Israel has an amazing amount of start-up companies when considering its relatively small population.

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There are over 3,000 start-up companies in Israel. That’s the highest per-capita in the world and the largest number in absolute terms after the US.

In 2014, according to Forbes, Israeli startups enjoyed exits (i.e., acquisitions and IPOs) worth about $15 billion, an all-time record, up from $7.6 billion in 2013 and $5.5 billion in 2012.

Fifty-two startups were sold in 2014 for a total of $5 billion, down from $6.5 billion in 2013, a decline that is explained by the increase in the number of IPOs in 2014 and the acquisition of Waze for $966 million in 2013.

Israeli startups were acquired at a faster pace than ever, within an average of 3.95 years, compared to a period of 5.5 years before acquisition in 2013 and 8.59 years in 2009.