We’re celebrating Hanukah in Israel right now and given all the fun and festivities going on, we thought it would be a good time to look back over the past few months and highlight some of the tech trends we’re seeing in startup land in the Startup Nation. As a caveat, these trends are based upon our deal flow – what we’re seeing on the ground. So, Happy Hanukah and enjoy.

>>Read about all the top Israel technology trends this holiday season<<

:::::::::::::Payments:::::::::::::

The problem: Payments are moving away from traditional point-of-purchase and onto mobile devices, into the cloud, and within software. The technology and transactional ecosystem have to migrate from hardware to software (or at least a mix of the two).

Solutions: Israeli companies aren’t focused on taking on core merchant payments the way a Square is but are more focused on niche parts of the market.

  • Digimo: While lots of new payment players are basing their solutions on new hardware  — like terminals or NFC — Digimo uses existing payment infrastructure and enables mobile payments with an interesting twist on the whole bank card market.
  • ZooZ: Zooz enables app developers to start accepting in-app payments with multiple payment options. This market is exploding and ZooZ wants to be a part of it.
  • Pango: Pango offers advanced cellular parking and fueling payment solutions. The company has done a good job proving the model/tech in Israel and is expanding internationally now.
  • KidsCash: This company teaches kids about money by providing a hybrid real/virtual currency system. Kids can learn to save, give charity, and shop online using the company’s own currency.
Future: Israeli companies have traditionally focused on the anti-fraud/money laundering piece of the whole financial ecosystem. Over time, that’s been changing. Look for more startups in the Startup Nation to make an impact on payments.
>>Read about all the top Israel technology trends this holiday season<<