1. Israel
From Socialism To Startup Haven
2013, by Elena Donets

2. The Beginning…
Israel is widely hailed as a startup
nation, hosting more NASDAQ-
listed companies per citizen than
any country. But not so many
years ago, it was the opposite of
that—a country that prized
socialism and distrusted
capitalism.
Entrepreneur par excellence Eli
Hurvitz, the legendary CEO of
Teva Pharmaceuticals, grew up in
a Labor Zionist household and
was a member of Kibbutz Tel
Katzir before leaving for the
world of business.

3. ‘Yozma’
The Government Support
In 1991, Israel had almost nothing in
the way of venture capital. Today, it
has a host of local VC funds that
together invest nearly twice as much
per capita as those in the United
States.
In 1992, Yozma set aside $100-million
to attract experienced international
venture capitalists to Israel. To qualify
for the program, they had to raise
roughly $12-million in private capital
and had to team up with a local
Israeli who would become a partner
in the VC fund. Yozma would then
provide $8-million in matching
investments to those who qualified
(with a capped upside to attract
venture capitalists and private
investors)

4. Venture Capital
Israel’s venture capital industry has
approximately 70 active venture
capital funds, of which 14 are
international VCs with offices in
Israel. VC funds raised $607 million in
2012. Among the leading funds,
Sequoia V, Pitango VI and Magma III
raised a combined sum of $450
million, 74 percent of the total raised
by all Israeli VCs in 2012. Micro-VC
funds continued to attract
investments with six micro funds
raising a total of $83 million, nearly
14% of total capital raised.

5. Total Capital Raised
Source: IVC Research Center

6. The Israeli Economic
Success Story
Israel has the highest ratio of university degrees to the population
in the world.
Israel produces more scientific papers per capita than any other
nation by a large margin -109 per 10,000 people - as well as one of
the highest per capita rates of patents filed.
In proportion to its population, Israel has the largest number of
startup companies in the world. In absolute terms, Israel has the
largest number of startup companies than any other country in the
world, except the US (3,500 companies mostly in hi-tech).
Israel is ranked #2 in the world for venture capital funds right
behind the US.
Outside the United States and Canada, Israel has the largest
number of NASDAQ listed companies.

7. The Israeli Economic
Success Story
Israel leads the world in the number of scientists and technicians in the
workforce, with 145 per 10,000, as opposed to 85 in the U.S., over 70 in Japan,
and less than 60 in Germany. With over 25% of its work force employed in technical
professions. Israel places first in this category as well.
The cell phone was developed in Israel by Motorola, which has its largest
development center in Israel.
Voice mail technology was developed in Israel.
Both Microsoft and Cisco built their only R&D facilities outside the US in Israel.
An Israeli company was the first to develop and install a large-scale solar-
powered and fully functional electricity generating plant, in southern California's
Mojave desert.
Israel's Given Imaging developed the first ingestible video camera, so small it fits
inside a pill. Used to view the small intestine from the inside, the camera helps
doctors diagnose cancer and digestive disorders.

8. It’s the Culture…
“Chutzpah”
Mixed Culture
Military Service
It is all about the
people!
Israeli Entrepreneurship Eco - System

9. Hi Tech Scene
‘Silicon Wadi’
The first hi tech company
was founded in 1961: ECI
Telecom
Around 60 foreign R&D
centers are engaged: IBM
(since 1949), Motorola
(since 1964), Intel (since
1974), Microsoft (since
1989), Cisco (1997), Google
(2006), eBay (2005), Apple
(2012) and more.
Israeli Entrepreneurship Eco - System

10. Made In Israel
Founded by Dr. Gavriel
Meron in 1998, Yokneam-
based Given Imaging
revolutionized the world of
gastrointestinal diagnosis
by developing a miniature
camera in pill.
The Disk–On–Key was
developed by M-Systems,
a company founded by
three israelis.
In Israel, everyone
remebers the story
of ICQ, the instant
messaging computer
program

11. Made In Israel

12. The Great Failure 2013
Five years ago, Shai Agassi turned up amid a small
pantheon of celebrity technologists who seemed to
be leading the way to a new electric age.
The idea caught fire with serious investors such as
HSBC, Lazard, General Electric, Morgan Stanley and
Israeli billionaire Idan Ofer, who gave Agassi $850
million in funding.
Renault’s Carlos Ghosn climbed aboard by outfitting
a $38,000 Fluence to carry Agassi’s swappable
battery, and promising to build 100,000 of them.
The pioneer rarely wins, except in the movies
On May 26, Better Place announced that all its
money is gone. It was a full seven months after
Agassi himself was forced to resign—the signs
already glaring in October 2012 that the company
was in grave peril.

13. The Great Success 2013
Founded: 2007
2008: Waze received $12M in
Series A funding
2010: Waze Cruises Past 2 Million
Drivers, 250 Million Kilometers
Logged
2010: Waze received $25M in
Series B funding
2011: Waze received $30M in
Series C funding
2012: Waze Doubles From 10 To 20
Million Users In 6 Months
June 2013: Waze was acquired by
Google for $1.1B
The Billion Dollar Navigation App:
The Waze Success Story

14. The Great Success 2013
Founded: 1999
2006: Mobileye received $15M
in Series A funding
2007: Mobileye received $100M
in Venture Round Funding
2013: Mobileye received $400M
in Private Equity Funding
To date, Mobileye’s technology
has been launched by BMW 5-
Series, 6-Series, 7-Series, Volvo
S80, XC70 and V70 models, and
Buick Lucerne, Cadillac DTS and
STS.
Mobileye is a pioneer in the
development of vision systems
for on-board Driving
Assistance Systems

15. The Great Success 2013
Founded: 2006
2006: Trusteer received
$4M in Angel funding
2008: Trusteer received
$6.1M in Series B
funding
August 2013: Trusteer
was acquired by IBM
for $800M
Trusteer helps online banks,
brokerages, and retailers
secure the consumer desktop
from financial malware attacks
and fraudulent websites.

16. Thank you 
Elena Donets
VP, Operation and Strategic Planning
StarTAU, Tel Aviv Uni. Entrepreneurship Center
elenado@startau.co.il