Israeli tech companies have raised over $4.6 billion in 2016, breaking last year’s record of $4.43 billion, the Israeli financial website Globes reported Tuesday.

According to the Israeli High-Tech and Venture Capital Database, tech firms attracted $4 billion in financing during the first three quarters of 2016, an increase of 27 percent over the same time period in 2015. Tech firms raised $1.19 billion in the third quarter alone, making it the second most successful quarter in the past 10 years.

While investing in December is usually somewhat slower, Israeli tech companies raised more than $200 million this month and over $600 million in the fourth quarter so far, Globes noted.

The companies contributing to December’s totals include Lumus, a maker of optical screens for augmented reality that raised $30 million; Dynamic Yield, which helps marketers to customize their pitches and closed a funding round of $22 million; Blue Vine, a financial tech startup that raised $49 million; Life on Air, a video chat company that raised $52 million; and Lemonade, an insurance technology company that raised $34 million.

Israel’s high tech sector, which has been the focus of reports in Bloomberg Businessweek, The Washington Post and Yahoo! News in recent months, has shown impressive growth in 2016. In February, Israeli firms that graduated from Microsoft’s Accelerator program were reported to have raised $9 million. Later that month, while celebrating the 25th anniversary of Microsoft’s research and development center in Israel, Microsoft founder Bill Gates said that Israeli contributions to technology fields such as analytics and security were “improving the world.”

[Photo: Nati Shohat / Flash90 ]