Israeli tech founders ring NYSE bell, and alarm

Ringing the ceremonial opening bell above the floor of the New York Stock Exchange at 9:30 am is typically a joyful occasion, often celebrating financial achievement or momentous steps for a company. But there was a pensive tone on July 26 when founders of Israeli technology companies changed into “Save our democracy” T-shirts after the symbolic ringing of the bell.

In a video posted by the New York Stock Exchange, 15 people can be seen standing on the platform for the bell-ringing. Lynn Martin, president of the stock exchange, was joined by Guy Franklin, founder and general partner of the interactive platform Israeli Mapped in NY, and 13 founders of Israeli technology companies.

A first, most were dressed in standard business atire, but by the end of the video, the T-shirts — with big block letters — can be seen on the stock-exchange floor.

“We’re thrilled to celebrate companies who innovate and change the world every day, and obviously, the businesses that you all run are doing that,” Martin, the stock exchange president, told those gathered for the event. “You’re using technology to innovate, to change the way our daily lives operate and to protect us.”

Martin noted that she previously managed SuperDerivatives, a leading financial data vendor founded by Israeli David Gershon.

Thirteen leading Israeli technology company founders, including Wiz’s Assaf Rappaport and Taboola’s Adam Singolda, participated in the daily ritual that’s broadcast by business channels throughout the country. The group represented the 400 Israeli-founded startups that now operate in the Big Apple.

While it was a crowning achievement of sorts for the US-based Israeli tech sector, the T-shirts — several of which were also spotted on the trading floor below — bore a clear political message.

The controversy surrounding Israeli judicial reform has affected the Jewish state’s technology sector in particular. Several credit and investment-ratings agencies downgraded Israel, or warned Israel about a potential downgrade, on July 25, after the Knesset passed the first of several proposed judicial reform laws.

Although Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called the market reaction “momentary,” technology executives sounded the alarm to JNS.

Their concerns were in line with a survey of tech executives from Start-Up Nation Central, released on July 23. The data suggests that investment and stability in Israeli companies are already beginning to falter due to uncertainty over the country’s path and business climate in the wake of the reform quagmire.

“We all protest and object to where the government is going, and doing that without consensus from the people. And it’s a sad feeling,” said Yotam Segev, CEO and founder of the data security company Cyera, who said he was excited to represent Israel at the stock exchange.

Segev told JNS he and other members of the Israeli tech community are “calling on the government to reconsider and to open up to a wider consensus and keep Israel a democracy, keep it liberal, keep it the country that we fought for for so many years.”

Leon Lerman, CEO and co-founder of the health-care cybersecurity provider Cynerio, told JNS that he had “mixed feelings” that the bell-ringing took place during a tumultuous week. Still, he felt proud to participate.

“When I came here, I saw the Israeli flag on the New York Stock Exchange building,” he said. “It made me feel very optimistic that despite differences and disagreements, some things are stronger, like the bond between the US and Israeli tech.”

Asked what he tells leery investors, Itamar Ben Hemu, CEO and co-founder of Rivery, said, “I tell them we will survive. Eventually, both sides will understand that the future of Israel as the Jewish and democratic should stay and will stay.”

Some vehicle makers for which UVeye provides services have expressed concern about the goings-on in Israel, and Hever hears from others in the startup community who are beginning to move their money overseas and even talking about moving their headquarters abroad.

In 2015, there were just about 100 Israeli startups in the city. That number has quadrupled “and keeps growing every month,” Franklin, of Israeli Mapped in NY, which connects Israelis who work in technology with New York counterparts,  told JNS.

“Investors don’t like uncertainty, and we already see a decrease in the number of investments in Israeli startups,” he said. “We will see what the government will do. But obviously, now the investors are waiting, and they want to see where the situation is going.”

Segev, of the data security company, told JNS that “everybody is feeling the effects” of what is happening back home. 

“When people make substantial investments, they want to feel that it’s a good investment and a safe investment, and investors are worried,” he said. “They don’t understand what’s happening in Israel, and they’re asking more and more questions.”

He tells concerned investors that “business is doing very well. We’re thriving, growing, accelerating in the market, but also doing everything we can to change the direction that Israel is going in this regard, and to really affect the government’s decision and keep the country with the right values and the right alignment.”