Israeli tech firms expanded their workforces in Europe during war, study shows |
Israeli tech companies have continued to expand their operations in Europe and have hired more employees, despite growing anti-Israel sentiment in some of the continent’s countries ignited by the war with the Hamas terror group, according to a new study released on Tuesday by venture capital fund Planven and consulting firm KPMG.
Employment in Europe by Israeli tech firms has grown by an average of 5% annually over the past three years, even though the country has been facing difficulties and challenges in diplomatic relations over its conduct during the war with Hamas in Gaza, according to a study conducted jointly by Planven, KPMG and IT Hub Israel – the Israeli innovation hub of the European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT), an EU organization.
As of January 2025, a total of 1,686 Israeli tech companies operating in Europe employed 32,617 people, up from 30,936 in 2024 and 29,317 in 2023, according to the report. Israeli companies have been increasing their workforce in Europe at a time when tech employment in the country slowed and essentially flatlined, breaking a decade-long pattern of consistent expansion in the number of employees.
“The data shows that there is a constant growth of Israeli startups that are deepening their long-term presence in Europe, even during hard times like the war, when we faced so much criticism from Europe – people are still choosing to double down,״ Elle Taitou Spruch, investor at the pan-European VC Planven, told The Times of Israel.
The UK led the list with 704 Israeli tech firms in Europe, and a workforce of 6,724 employees, followed by Germany with 415 companies and 2,131 workers, and Ukraine with 312 enterprises........