Dubai-headquartered transport startup Swvl will list on the Nasdaq stock exchange, claiming to be the first $1.5 billion unicorn from the Middle East to list on the exchange.Unicorns, companies that are valued at over $1 billion while still privately held, are old hat to Israel. 16 Israeli companies reached that status in 2020 alone, with ten more in the first quarter of this year alone.
Three more companies became unicorns only this week.
Israel's biggest unicorn monday.com, was valued at $6.8 billion in its IPO last month.A couple of others are expected to become "decahorns" - worth over $10 billion - in coming months.
Even Israel's friends like the UAE still use the phrase "Middle East" to refer to the Arab world, not the region. One big reason is because they compete with other Arab nations and want to be the first, best, most important.
Even so, it is worthwhile to gently remind them that the Abraham Accords refer to Israel as being in the Middle East. Marginalizing Israel does not help the cause of peace in the region.
