Israel wouldn’t have earned its reputation as the Startup Nation if some of the thousands of companies that have come out of this small country hadn’t earned big bucks for their investors.

How big? Jerusalem-based Mobileye holds the title for the most lucrative acquisition of an Israeli company: $15.3 billion – that’s how much Intel paid to acquire the company in 2017.

That record seemed to be on the verge of being broken this week by the much-talked-about acquisition of the four-year-old Israeli cloud security startup Wiz. 

According to the Wall Street Journal, Google parent company Alphabet was in advanced talks to acquire Wiz for $23 billion, making it the largest buyout in both Israel and Google’s respective histories. 

In the end, the deal fell through at the last possible moment after a shock announcement from CEO Assaf Rappaport that the company was rejecting “offers we have received”.

While it’s still early days, and no-one knows exactly what might come next for cyber company Wiz – an IPO perhaps, or maybe even a bigger buy-out offer – the news certainly focused worldwide attention once more on Israel’s lively high-tech sector, which despite experiencing a slump related to the war in Gaza, and the aftermath of the Covid pandemic, is still developing at a fast pace. 

While we don’t know what the rest of 2024 will bring, ISRAEL21c compiled a list of the 15 largest startup acquisitions in Israeli history below. Plus, as a bonus, the acquisition that put the Startup Nation on the map in the first place.

Mobileye: $15.3 billion, 2017 

With the market for self-driving cars heating up, semiconductor giant Intel found itself with no play against Google, Tesla, Apple and other leaders in the space. So in 2017 the company bought Jerusalem-based Mobileye, innovator of vision-based advanced driver-assistance systems, which is developing some of the most sophisticated technology to power tomorrow’s autonomous vehicles.

Frutarom: $7 billion, 2018 

Ever wonder where that soft drink gets its flavor? Or where the fragrance for your favorite perfume comes from? There’s a good chance Israeli powerhouse Frutarom had something to do with it.

Established in 1933, Frutarom was the sixth largest food flavorings maker in the world until International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) acquired the company in 2018 in the second largest deal ever in the startup nation.

Together with Frutarom, IFF – now the largest flavoring company in the world – picked up Frutarom’s production plants in the US, Canada, the UK, Ireland, China and Morocco. Frutarom marketed over 70,000 products in 150 countries, employing 5,600 people before the acquisition. Flavors for natural products constituted 75 percent of the company’s sales.

NDS: $5 billion, 2012

Jerusalem-based NDS, founded in 1988 as News Datacom, makes software and hardware (such as secure set-top boxes) for pay TV providers and was listed on Nasdaq before it was acquired in 2009 for $3.6 billion by London-based private equity firm Permira and Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation.

In 2012, Cisco Systems, a maker of network switches and routers, bought NDS for $5 billion to become a player in the video-on-demand market. But as consumers gravitated to cloud-based video and streaming services such as YouTube and Netflix, there were massive layoffs at Cisco’s NDS unit and in 2018 the division was sold back to Permira for $1 billion, just one-fifth what Cisco paid six years before.

Chromatis: $4.7 billion, 2000

When US-based communications equipment giant Lucent bought Chromatis in 2000, it was at the time the largest acquisition in Israeli history. But just a year later, Lucent shut down its Chromatis unit and laid off 130 employees, citing lack of demand for Chromatis products, which alleviated bottlenecks in the “last mile” of networks connecting telephone exchanges and customers. Lucent decided to focus on large telephone companies vs. the small customers that were Chromatis’s main business.

However, the Chromatis acquisition put its seed investor – Jerusalem Venture Partners – on the map and helped launch the political career of JVP founder Erel Margalit.

Mercury Interactive: $4.5 billion, 2006 

While consumer-facing technology tends to capture readers’ attention, it’s business-to-business products and services that are the bread and butter of the startup nation. It’s no wonder, then, that Israeli tech firm Mercury Interactive made one of the country’s most successful exits, acquired in 2006 by HP.

Mercury makes the kind of behind-the-scenes applications everyone uses but rarely talks about: software for application delivery and management, change and configuration services, quality assurance and IT governance. Mercury’s products became part of HP’s Software Division until 2017 when they were sold off to UK-based Micro Focus.

Playtika: $4.4 billion, 2011 

There are two main types of gaming companies: those that make shoot-em-up video games and those that make online casino games. Israel’s Playtika, a leader in the second category, was acquired in 2011 by the Caesar’s Interactive Entertainment, part of the Caesar’s casino chain.

Playtika games, including the World Series of Poker Texas Holdem Game, downloaded more than 5 million times in 2024 so far, are among the top grossing and most downloaded games. Playtika has completed 10 acquisitions of its own, mostly in the Israel and United States, in mobile gaming and mobile advertising.

Orbotech: $3.4 billion, 2018 

Orbotech has claimed that “virtually every electronic device in the world is produced using Orbotech systems.” Silicon Valley-based semiconductor giant KLA-Tencor apparently agreed and in 2018 made a multibillion-dollar play for this Israeli company that works behind the scenes helping to build the printed circuit boards, flat panel displays and electro-mechanical systems consumers rely on today.

SodaStream: $3.2 billion, 2018 

In 2014, Israeli carbonated beverage manufacturer SodaStream was struggling. The company, which sells a countertop machine for make-your-own carbonated drinks, was seeing sales and profit drop as consumers turned away from sweet soft drinks. CEO Daniel Birnbaum refocused the company to offer healthier flavors (including plain soda water) and emphasized the environmental benefits of its reusable bottles.

Actress Scarlett Johansson was hired as celebrity pitch person and the company’s business rebounded – so much so that once-rival PepsiCo acquired the company in 2018. PepsiCo committed to keeping SodaStream in Israel for at least 15 years although PepsiCo CEO Ramon Laguarta said it could remain in Israel “forever.”

Imperva: $2.1 billion, 2018 

Cybersecurity is one of the startup nation’s strongest sectors – there are an estimated 450 cybersecurity startups in the country – and one that has seen significant acquisition action. Symantec acquired Fireglass and Skycure, both for around $250 million each; Continental picked up Argus Cybersecurity for $450 million; and Palo Alto Networks paid $130 million for Lightcyber.

But none of those compare with private equity technology investment firm Thoma Bravo’s multibillion-dollar acquisition of Imperva in 2018. The award-winning company makes a suite of products to help organizations protect customers from cyberattacks through all stages of their digital transformation.

Mazor Robotics: $1.64 billion, 2018

Born in 2001 in the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology lab of Prof. Moshe Shoham, Mazor Robotics was sold for nearly $1.7 billion to Medtronic, the world’s largest medical device company. The deal announced in September 2018 sets a record for the highest-ever acquisition price for an Israeli medical company. Medtronic is the sole distributor of the Mazor robotic guidance system that improves outcomes in spine and brain surgery.

M-Systems: $1.5 billion, 2006

Israeli tech firm M-Systems invented the concept of a small, portable memory (USB) stick. Released in 2000 as the DiskOnKey, it drew the attention of SanDisk, which acquired the company in 2006.

Flash drives eventually contributed to the demise of both floppy disks and CD-ROMs in personal computers. M-Systems founder and CEO Dov Moran has been a serial entrepreneur for most of his career, but never found the same level of success as he did with M-Systems.

Waze: $1.1 billion, 2013

Israelis are impatient. If there’s a shortcut, we’ll take it. So it’s not surprising one of the biggest acquisitions in Israeli history involves a company that helps commuters save time on the road.

Waze uses GPS sensors on users’ smartphones and the power of the crowd to create real-time updated traffic maps and turn-by-turn directions.

Google decided it wanted to drive in Waze’s fast lane, too, and acquired the company in 2013.

Rather than integrating Waze into Google Maps, Google committed to keeping Waze a separate brand (headquartered in Israel, no less) while making Google Maps smarter with some of Waze’s data.

Neuroderm: $1.1 billion, 2017 

The search for an effective treatment for Parkinson’s disease is increasing as the world population ages. Israeli pharmaceutical firm Neuroderm makes a system for self-administered continuous subcutaneous infusion of the gold standard levodopa/carbidopa, designed to be a user-friendly system enabling people with Parkinson’s disease to maintain steady therapeutic levodopa plasma concentrations. Japanese pharmaceutical giant Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma bought the company in 2017. 

Trusteer: $1 billion, 2013 

The second largest cybersecurity exit on our list, Trusteer was acquired by IBM in 2013, seven years after the company was founded. Trusteer – now part of IBM’s Boston-based computer security division – makes products that block online threats from malware and phishing attacks, and alert customers immediately.

The company built a worldwide presence – including operations in North and South America, Europe, Africa, Japan and China – before IBM made its bid.

Valtech Cardio: up to $1 billion, 2016 

The only medical device company on our list, Valtech Cardio was acquired by Irvine, California-based Edwards Lifesciences in 2016 for $340 million in stock and cash with the potential for another $650 million over the next 10 years. The acquisition was notable given that Valtech did not have any sales when Edwards made its move.

Valtech’s main product, the Cardioband System for repairing the mitral and tricuspid valves of the heart via catheter, was a perfect fit with Edwards’ products for valve repair and replacement. Part of the deal was that Valtech would spin off its transseptal mitral valve replacement technology with Edwards retaining the right to acquire it at a later date.

Some six million Americans suffer from mitral valve or tricuspid valve regurgitation, which involve leakage of blood backwards into the heart.

Bonus — Mirabilis: $287 million, 1998

While not the largest acquisition in Israeli tech history, AOL’s 1998 acquisition of Mirabilis, the company behind ICQ, in many ways kickstarted the Startup Nation. Long before WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger came to dominate the messaging scene, Mirabilis developed one of the first Internet chat products.

The acquisition also launched Yossi Vardi’s career as the “godfather of high-tech” investing in Israel through what Forbes magazine once dubbed “the Mirabilis Effect.” Vardi has helped establish no fewer than 85 high-tech companies over nearly 50 years.

It was Vardi’s son Arik who cocreated ICQ. Dad put up the initial money and has been seeding startups ever since. “We have always been very good at seeding, whether in agriculture with tomatoes or high-tech,” Vardi says. “The underlying ecosystem, the spirit of the people, is somehow part of our genetic and cultural DNA.”