Connecting the dots between markets. Slides on Israel and the Israeli startup

1. Connecting the dots between markets
Onboarding Israeli
startup ecosystem
Initech, 2017

2. www.initech.co.il
Welcome to Israel
• Prime tourist destination: long summer, sea, beaches, rich archaeology
• Tel-Aviv is a non-stop city with beach front, skyscraper architecture and amazing
nightlife
• Jerusalem hosts some of the most important historical and religious sites on the
planet
• Compactly placed hi-tech industry: all within 2h drive
• Airbnb, Uber, Gett and cheap mobile connectivity make travelling easy and fun

3. www.initech.co.il
What’s special about Israel?
• Startups: 5000+
• Accelerators: 250+
• VC funds: 250+
• R&D centers of global companies: 300+
Israel has something for everyone

4. www.initech.co.il
for Startups
• Highly developed ecosystem brings money ( VCs, angels) and skills (mentors,
service providers & professionals) together in a huge number of hubs,
accelerators and coworking spaces
• 30 years of Startup Nation experience.
• Intimate relationship with Silicon Valley funds and companies
• Full eligibility for EU grants program (Horizon 2020)
• Fast lane for getting 2 years entrepreneurship visa

5. www.initech.co.il
• Big potential market in one compact and reachable location
• Lack of internal resources to fill the IT needs
• Big VC money
• Challenges:
• VC always prefer to keep the technology in-house
• Lack of confidence in East European companies
• Medium / big enterprise customers prefer to keep development in Israel
for IT providers

6. www.initech.co.il
•Huge selection of investment opportunities at any stages
• Possibility for co-investment
•Local regulation and ecosystem are friendly towards foreign investments
•Opportunity to meet startups from USA / EU
• Challenges:
•Need to be part of the inner circles to get the hottest deals
•startups are looking for added value besides investment money
for Investors

7. www.initech.co.il
Remote career opportunities
• Lack of available local SW / HW engineers
• Many remote positions (chiefly in startups)
• Barriers of entry for relocation into Israel:
•working visa is hard to obtain
•extra taxation for the employer

8. www.initech.co.il
Challenges - recap
•Tough immigration / work visa policies
•Preference for local providers
•Lack of remote work culture anywhere besides agile startups
•No recognition of the full potential of east european specialists
•“Closed club” mentality - connections are very important

9. www.initech.co.il
Few things to keep in mind
•Very high living cost
• Weird local language that’s hard to learn
• Weekends and local holidays unaligned with most of the world
• Occasional military showdowns with neighbors (fireworks included!)
•Strained relations with some other countries :)
•Jews everywhere!

10. www.initech.co.il
Workarounds
• Partner with Israeli companies
• Become a part of the local ecosystem: attend local events, come with roadshows
• Bring added value and differentiate
• Work on your communication skills: English, Agile methodology, remote workflow
and tools

11. www.initech.co.il
• We develop digital products for web, mobile and instant messaging
• We are in business for 8 years
• We have delivered 200+ projects and counting
•We are highly involved in Israeli startup ecosystem
Who’s Initech?

12. Thanks for listening!
More questions?
See you at the next meetup!
Digital innovation from Israel
drop me a line at: ishay@initech.co.il
Initech, 2017