11 Israel at forefront of alternative proteins market – 2nd only to U.S. versus too little information flow.” With investments into these fields, patience is key. As Caner of EBN points out: “The obstacles are that these areas often require more time to market than the standard enterprise software, AI and cyber sectors, for example, so that the investors need more patience. Also, both sectors often involve "hardware" or production activity that are less desired by the standard VC.” “In both fields investors should be aware that there are long development cycles and sale cycles, so the exit strategy should be different and longer in comparison to sectors such as software,” adds Gornitzky’s Rom. “In addition, many of the technologies in the field originate from the academy and are provided to companies under equity plus royalties models. Investors should carefully examine such license agreements as they are not always compatible with the company's business model in terms of margins and freedom to operate.” “Today, in Israel, there are over 500 companies across the strong Foodtech sector," said Eliran Elimelech, VP of Ecosystem Development at Start-Up Nation Central at The Future is in AgriFood Tech panel in November 2022. From 2017 to today, Foodtech companies raised approximately USD 1.5 billion.The leading sub-sectors in this segment are sectors such as alternative proteins and novel ingredients, with the majority of investment poured into alternative proteins, which include plant-based substitutes for meat, dairy, and egg, cultivated dairy, meat and seafood made from cells, and various fermentation processes and products. “Over the past couple of years we have witnessed food-tech companies are thriving particularly in sectors such as alternative meat, alternative milk, superfoods in general,” adds Amir-Yaniv at Arnon, Tadmor-Levy, also indicating “an emphasis on innovations creating solutions to store food and extending life-expectancy of foods.” In terms of the alternative protein sector, Israeli companies come second only to the US in funds invested, with companies like Wilk, SavorEat, Remilk, Zero Egg, More Foods, Aleph Farms and Future Meat Technologies working on replacing meat and dairy in everyday foods.
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