In recent years, I have been spending a lot of my time in the US. First, as a scientist, and as of three years ago, as the co-founder and CEO of immunai, an engineering-first biotechnology company, aimed at fully mapping the immune system to improve personalized medicine.

I was born and raised in Israel, also referred to as the “startup nation”. As a scientist and entrepreneur, I have been pleased to discover how well Israeli scientists and entrepreneurs do overseas, especially in the United States.

In the past couple of years, I have heard Israel referred to as the “unicorn nation”, a reference to the “billion dollar club”, the group of private companies whose valuations are estimated over one billion dollars.

In 2021, there were 33 new unicorns in Israel, amounting to about 64 unicorns in Israel. Immunai joined this club in September of 2021, a humbling experience. Out of these 60 plus unicorns, there are very few unicorns in the medical space.