The Quarterly OurCrowd Jobs Index released February 23 indicates that high-tech startups backed by the Jerusalem-based venture platform are seeking to fill hundreds of positions despite record-high unemployment in the overall economy.

The number of jobs listed by OurCrowd’s global portfolio companies more than doubled from 350 in June 2020 to 912 in December 2020.

Each day during the fourth quarter of 2020, OurCrowd companies posted an average of 14 job openings, up from 13 per day during the third quarter and 10 per day during the second quarter, when uncertainty over the pandemic and the economy was at a peak.

The number of job openings in 100 of its Israeli portfolio companies and funds rose by 400 percent during the same period to more than 200.

Companies surveyed since the pandemic started in early 2020 reported that demand for software engineers has grown the fastest. About one-third of them said they have hired more aggressively during the pandemic than before.

Companies surveyed for the OurCrowd Jobs Index forecast that the job growth would continue through 2021. Most also said they expect to maintain a mix of in-person and remote working.

“We will be expanding our global team further in 2021,” said Howard Edelstein, CEO of BioCatch, a behavioral biometrics company providing fraud prevention solutions to financial services.

BioCatch’s job ads received more clicks than any other OurCrowd portfolio company in the fourth quarter of 2020. “With almost 200 employees on board we are hiring across all departments and hope to grow to 250 employees by the end of this year,” said Edelstein.