THREE ISRAELI COMPANIES REVELUTIONIZE THE CAR
The first phone calls to investors were met with laughter and derision. Gal Fridman and his team were pitching a new kind of internal combustion engine. The idea was simple: a single piston firing continuously would be more efficient and compact than anything currently on the market."Nobody wanted to speak with us," remembers Fridman, the co-founder of Israeli-startup Aquarius Engines. "It sounded so far-fetched that we had to do the first generation by ourselves."Fast forward two years and the Aquarius Engine is now undergoing testing at a Formula 1 center in Belgium. Peugeot (PUGOY) is evaluating the engine, and Fridman says other car manufacturers are interested as well. Israel has earned a reputation as "Startup Nation," but its innovation has largely focused on high-tech, cyber and medical sectors. Now, it's moving into new areas. Here are three Israeli companies working on automotive innovation