Persuading Israel's Tech Firms to IPO at Home

Entrepreneurs prefer to list their companies’ shares in the U.S.

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By Gabrielle Coppola

November 14, 2014 at 12:37 AM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

This article is part of the November 17, 2014 issue of businessweek.

When 200 tech entrepreneurs and venture capitalists gathered in the lobby of the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange in September, Chief Executive Officer Yossi Beinart made sure to wear his customary suit and tie. Beinart, who opened the night of startup presentations from some of the world’s hippest tech accelerators, didn’t want to blend in with the casually dressed crowd. “I told them, ‘I’m the only one here in a suit. So please, if you ever are on the verge of going public, remember the guy in the suit.’ ”

Beinart, who became CEO of the TASE in January, wants to bring the vibrancy of Israel’s tech scene—a mix of software companies, biotechs, and medical device makers—to its stock exchange, where trading volume has declined 40 percent in the past four years. It’s part of a strategy to increase the number of companies trading on the exchange, which has seen initial public offerings dwindle to 4 this year from 17 in 2010.