Blue and White Impact: Meet 3 Israeli Companies that are Making the World a Better Place
In bearish times, when markets are imposing a higher burden of proof on technology companies, and alongside the crash of many Israeli stocks in the international market, it’s good to know that there are alternatives: Meet Wix, UserWay, and Steakholder Foods; local companies that are making waves globally.
Website Democratization: Wix (NASDAQ: WIX)
The evolving world poses high technological demands on entrepreneurs, small businesses, and nonprofits, including setting up websites. For large organizations with huge budgets, this is just another project, but for small businesses, freelancers, social organizations, and low-budget entities, the task might not be simple. Hundreds of millions of such customers are already subscribed to Wix’s services, using them to quickly and without prior technical knowledge set up the entire internet presence they need, all at low costs and without the need for any coding. During 2021, the company executed a series of mergers and acquisitions that helped it develop market dominance, including the acquisition of Modalyst trading platform, Rise.ai, an artificial intelligence company that assists in optimizing virtual stores, and SpeedETab, a restaurant trading technology company that will help expand the accessibility of Wix’s technologies to the restaurant sector, which was severely affected during the coronavirus pandemic. According to the company’s ESG report for 2022, Wix has over 248 million users, in 191 different countries and in 22 different languages. Furthermore, in 2022, the company added a “Butterfly Button” to its add-on market which allows victims of domestic violence to access information and help on the subject confidentially.
Internet Accessibility for All: UserWay (TASE: UWAY)
Following the internet revolution, where most businesses, government organizations, and financial institutions interact daily with all populations, including groups with special needs, UserWay is transforming its clients, including organizations in communication, education, entertainment, and commerce, to be accessible and available for everyone. For those with various vision impairments, dyslexia, syndromes affecting motor skills, various cognitive disabilities, etc., internet access is not a given, like it is for most of us, and this has significant implications; those suffering from disabilities in accessing the internet are essentially limited in many basic daily services such as consuming information, accessing services and realizing opportunities available to the general population in the digital environment. This is a huge challenge, which according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), affects one in every four American adults. UserWay has developed a set of technology solutions based on algorithms and artificial intelligence that allow any website to quickly achieve accessibility for the audiences in need, through automation tools, audits, monitoring of websites, and a set of legal support and AI-based content correction services. This is a service with significant business importance in light of increasing regulations in the field. Moreover, according to a new announcement by the company regarding a pilot with Natural Intelligence, the use of UserWay’s tools may also lead to improvements in website performance.
The Future of Food and the Environment: Steakeholder Foods (NASDAQ: STKH)
For years, humanity has understood that our eating habits, especially when it comes to meat, have serious consequences. Beyond the nutritional and health consequences that have long been at the heart of medical discourse, it is clear to all that the environmental consequences stemming from the infrastructure required to support the cultivation of beef, poultry, and fish all lead to a clear conclusion: animal protein is not a sustainable solution. Recently, Prime Minister Netanyahu visited the offices of Steakeholder Foods in Rehovot and announced the great importance that the Israeli government sees in the food tech sector and cultured meat, where he also announced the acceleration of regulatory approvals for cultured milk produced by the Israeli company Remilk. This visit was warmly received among the investor and expert communities in the field, some of whom even saw the visit to Steakeholder as a sign of things to come. Steakeholder presented to the Prime Minister, and essentially to the world, their “slaughterhouse” — a 3D printer that builds muscle tissue, fat, and connective tissues using raw materials produced by the company’s unique technologies. Prime Minister Netanyahu tasted the company’s cultured meat and even exclaimed that “the kebab is excellent”. Recently, the company achieved a number of significant milestones, including the first printing of cultured grouper fish and the launch of a new business model that revolves around its impressive printing capabilities.
These companies, which have grown and developed within the Israeli innovation hub, constitute a groundbreaking vanguard in building the future of humanity as a whole. The relentless commitment of Wix, UserWay, and Steakholder Foods to accessibility and easing entry barriers in the world of the 21st century brings progress also to sections of the population that have not been favored by fate. From developing websites, through making them accessible via groundbreaking artificial intelligence means, to the reinvention of healthy and environmentally friendly food — Israel is exporting pioneering innovation in the field.
This Article was Also Syndicated in Hebrew to Sponser.co.il:
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