“The startup ecosystem is shaped by a lot of investment from the government, universities and the private sector, which means that all ends of the industry are busy”
Paulo Loeb, CEO of Fbiz, is one of the executives who has participated in “Lahav Executive Education”, a three-day program created by Tel Aviv University, in Israel. He had already traveled there as a tourist. He saw Jerusalem, the Red Sea and the kibbutz. But it was in the “Economic Mission” that Loeb understood what makes Israel the next Silicon Valley.
The first clue is investment in education. Not surprisingly, the country has twelve Nobel Prizes and seven of the 25 best-selling medicines in the world are supported by the Weizmann Institute. Recognize talents another skill. In the 1990s, for example, Israel absorbed engineers and scientists who landed there after the immigration of a million Soviets.
Loeb saw the growing volume of research and development centers, visited companies like Mobileye, and was surprised by the construction of the university city Gav-Yam Negev Advanced Technologies Park, in the city of BeerSheva, in the middle of the Negev desert.
In an interview given exclusively to propmarkthe CEO of Fbiz details the business and entrepreneurship environment in Israel, which is facing one of the most delicate moments in its history, following the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7th.
How is the business ecosystem in Israel?
One of the most interesting things I saw was the openness to talking about past failures without any taboo, even with a certain pride, showing that this is how you learn: by doing. Furthermore, there is a great diversity of subjects that include technology, food, health, safety and education. For example, my children used an Israeli application called Matific to learn mathematics, wonderful! The startup ecosystem is shaped by a lot of investment from the government, universities and the private sector, which means that all ends of the industry are busy. Finally, the book Nao Empreendedora provides an excellent perspective of everything that happens there.
What are the reasons for the innovation environment created there?
Without a doubt, scarcity. Israel is a small country, the size of Sergipe, with just under 10 million inhabitants. Natural resources are scarce and, as we are seeing very intensely, they are all part of a very complex political dynamic with the countries of the Middle East. So, this scarcity was the raw material that forced the country to invest heavily in technology and education to seek international competitiveness. Other countries follow this model on a smaller scale, such as Singapore, Sweden and Estonia. One of the pioneers in the startup movement in Israel, a man I had the honor of meeting, called Yossi Vardis, is worth Google.
What platforms were created in Israel?
Waze, Wix, Viber are some examples. Furthermore, companies such as IBM, Google, HP, Cisco, Meta and Motorola have created research and development centers in the country.
Read the full interview in the printed edition of October 30th.
Photo credit at top: Taylor Brandon/Unsplash
