To get a better idea of what is going on with the Israeli medical device scene let’s first look at some numbers about the Israeli hi tech sector of which medical devices is a part.

• There are currently more than 250 multinationals with R&D centers in Israel including 80 Fortune 500 companies such as: Apple, Google, IBM, Microsoft, General Motors, J&J and GE
• With the exception of China, Israel has more NASDAQ listed companies than any other country outside the USA.
• In 2011 foreign companies bought out 83 Israeli start-up companies
• Israel has the highest number of engineers per capita in the world
• In the last decade Israel has produced 10 Nobel laureates
• Israel ranks #2 in the world (behind South Korea) in R&D expenditures as percent of GDP

These numbers reflect very well the power of the Israeli hi-tech sector. My next post will delve more specifically into the medical device scene.