Jerusalem, Israel - Apr. 4, 2019 -Twenty-five years ago, Erel Margalit took an abandoned, derelict Jerusalem property, and established JVP Media- Jerusalem Venture Partners Media center on Hebron Road. While there were skeptics at the time, JVP has thrived, and the Jerusalem technology scene has changed drastically and has grown exponentially.
The old abandoned leper hospital in Talbiya is now Hansen House, an evolving tech and art center. The old Mashbir department store on King George Street is the Jerusalem home of co-working space WeWork. The main Jerusalem bus station has new office spaces called Uban Place for 400 business on the fourth floor, Mayor Moshe Lion attended the February opening . Beit Alliance House near Mahane Yehuda Market is home to MassChallenge, one of the new support systems for startups to gain experience and funding. The small old dorm rooms on the Hebrew University Givat Ram campus now are filled with tech startups, like Lightricks, changing the world by producing popular apps.
On March 28, BIOHOUSE, a new scientific co-working space located at Hadassah Hospital Ein Kerem, in Jerusalem, Israel, hosted a trade and business delegation from Global New York, organized by Joe van Zwaren, co-founder of Jerusalem Business Networking Forum, JBNF, and moderated by Michael Horesh, also a JBNF co-founder.
Once again, Lennox W. Ruiz, Director of Global NY, under the Empire State Development, led a mission of New York State business owners to Israel, with Gerry Stoch, Director of Global NY, Israel. Along with Global NY Trade Specialist Kathryn Bamberger, the ten businesses were introduced to Israeli advances, such as in Cyber Technology in Beer Sheva, and at BIOHOUSE medical technologies For most of the delegates it was their first visit to Israel. Michael Mazzatti of Terahertz Technologies, however, had participated on a previous Global NY mission.
Dr. Shai Melcer, an associate lecturer at Hebrew University, and CEO of BIOHOUSE, welcomed the New Yorkers to the newly designed concept and space, where medical technology companies work in top-tier medical centers such as the Hadassah Hospital and Medical School.
Official business missions from around the world and the across the United States are in Israel on a regular basis. New York State's budget of $175 billion makes New York one of the the largest economies in the world. Israel is New York State’s 4th largest trading partner with exports exceeding $6 billion.
Of his first trip to Israel, Cedric Glasper, President / CEO at Mechanical Rubber, told BJL, "I can say that connecting with this Mission is a great training and marketing tool. In that you have to practice public speaking, you actually network with like businesses and unbeknownst - your mission colleagues, and finally by exposing you and your business to 'you'll never know opportunities'." "By the way," Galsper added, "an excellent trip that will result in new business."
These trade missions have expanded. Tours include,Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and now Beer Sheva for its new CyberTech center, and soon missions will be traveling to the Galilee.
In his welcoming remarks at JVP Media to the international participants of the Forbes Under 30 Global Women's Summit, Margalit spoke of future expansion of the Israel technology development in the north.
With the growth in startups in these various locations, the new concern is a shortage of trained and talented developers to keep up with the expected growth in technology in Israel. Advanced training for women and minorities, internships for students, and making visas easier to obtain for experts in hi-tech are all being explored to keep Israel growing as an important scene of cutting-edge research.
Photo essay includes scenes at above mentioned technology centers:
