According to a recent report by Tel Aviv Global, based on data from an IVC Research conducted in preparation for the DLD Tel Aviv Innovation Festival (Sept 3-7, 2017), Israel’s “Startup City” has doubled the number of International R&D centers over the past 5 years. From 35 R&D centers in 2012, Tel Aviv is now home to 73 centers or 20% of all R&D centers in the “Startup Nation.” These 73 international R&D centers provide more than 6,200 jobs, introduce new capital and knowledge to the City’s well-developed tech ecosystem, and further elevate the City’s global standing.
The International credit card and fintech giant Visa recently decided to establish an R&D center in Tel Aviv, joining Renault, Bosch, MasterCard, Google, Facebook, Amazon, Coca Cola, Microsoft, AOL, Samsung, Siemens, Paypal, Deutsche Telekom, Citibank, Intel, Yahoo, Barclays, IBM, Apple and other multinational companies. The Tel Aviv ecosystem is considered a leader in the nurturing of entrepreneurial spirit and is home to a large amount of startups, collaborative workspaces and acceleration programs creating an attractive environment for international venture capital firms and R&D centers.
The report also addresses the growth of the High-Tech sector in the city, which is home to some 2,000 High Tech companies which constitute about a quarter of the total number of high-tech companies in Israel. These tech companies influence the local workforce, as one out of every 10 jobs in the city is in the high-tech sector.
The report also identifies a shift in the Tel Aviv Startup ecosystem, the rate of seed-stage companies has gone down and the rate of R&D-stage companies has gone up, in accordance with the overall trend in Israel. This shift in the composition of startups is evidence of a maturation of startups in the city and their progression from idea stage to a process of research and development.
The city’s global economic development unit, Tel Aviv Global, plans to focus on attracting even more big names to the city in 2018. A new municipal policy offers city-tax breaks and a “red carpet” package – assisting entrepreneurs in all aspects of setting up international activity in the city.
Ron Huldai, Mayor of Tel Aviv-Yafo, said in a statement: “Our Startup community has gained global recognition, and thanks to it, Tel Aviv-Yafo is recognized as one of the most attractive cities for technological development. The Municipality invests major efforts to promote our creative ecosystem with incentives that are meant to encourage our startup community and signal how important it is in our eyes to Tel Aviv’s economy, its global positioning, and most importantly – the energetic spirit of its people.”
Eytan Schwartz, CEO of Tel Aviv Global, said in a statement: “We understand that for our high-tech sector to grow, it must open the market to foreign talent. Tel Aviv Global is working with our governmental partners on continuing the process of: attracting Int’l R&D centers; opening Int’l accelerators; encouraging foreign entrepreneurs to work in the city; and promoting the activity of global corporations with an emphasis on Chinese companies.”