In recent years, Israel has entered a new era in which over 1,500 new hi-tech companies are established annually and the development of countless new and breakthrough technologies creates a race between the largest multinational corporations’ venture arms, global VCs and other investment entities all converging on Israel to invest in their growth and acquire their next best technologies. After IT and cyber-tech, the latest disruptive technological cluster is automotive.Innovation and knowledge production are rooted deep within the cultural DNA of Israel. Establishing a state in a land that is over 50% desert, under constant threat, led to the development of a highly advanced technological industry.
In a first chapter this report presents the key factors to Israel’s success incubating startups: a long history of entrepeneurship and knowledge production, world-renowned universities, targeted government incentives, a strong base of innovation and individual skills coming from the Defense Forces, the local presence of major corporate drivers such as Google, Intel, Apple, IBM, Cisco, Facebook, and Microsoft; attractive venture capital investors, and a mature support structure for innovation. In the latter part of the chapter we present the Israeli automotive industry with the three major clusters: electric mobility, ADAS and autonomous driving, and smart mobility; and the automakers and suppliers present in Israel.
In chapter 2, a selection of 37 Israeli startups are presented whose activities could be of interest for DVN members. They cover four different fields: ADAS, visibility, materials, and electronics. For each company, you can find details about their activity and productss, their team with their experts and general information. All these startup companies are eager to engage with DVN members to explore collaborative opportunities.
In building this report, we’ve come to conclude that a meeting amongst worldwide lighting and ADAS experts and the 37 Israeli startups should be useful for all our community. More than 30 Israeli startups involved in lighting and/or ADAS should attend such an event, to take place the end of this coming November in Tel Aviv.