Italian companies’ mission to Israel in search of business partnerships
This is the result of the Israel Innovation Tour, a scheme devised by the Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center in conjunction with the Israel-Italy Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and consisting in a series of meetings with innovative Israeli companies interested in possible financial and technological partnerships. This is thus an internationalisation and innovation mission for Italian companies interested in exploring the Israeli technology market and creating synergies with companies in that country.
Israel is a genuine hotbed of innovation. International rankings put Israel in number one position in terms of the number of start-ups in relation to the population, and in terms of patents created, and the country boasts investments in R&D amounting to 4.1% of its GDP. In 2018 alone, Israel’s start-ups raised around 6.1 billion US$, and the country’s capacity to attract foreign investment is considerable (foreign investments account for approximately 47% of total investments, compared to a European average of 9%). Artificial intelligence, biomedicine, cyber security and machine learning are among the areas in which over 400 start-ups are currently operating.
The Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center in conjunction with the Israel-Italy Chamber of Commerce and Industry, supports Italian companies in search of business partnerships in Israel.
“With a view to promoting innovation” explains Mario Costantini, General Manager of the Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center, ”we believe it is strategic to facilitate the trade network between Italian high-tech companies and the most highly-developed innovation eco-systems in the world. We are confident that with the sharing of assets and expertise, business and development opportunities can be created, especially in a strongly technological market like the Israeli market”.
The Israel Innovation Tour also comprises the participation in the OurCrowd Global Investor Summit 2019, an international event organised in Jerusalem by the equity crowd-funding platform of the same name (which Intesa Sanpaolo is partnered with), which within the space of its 6 years of existence has managed to raise over 900 million US$ in relation to 170 investments in start-ups and 26 exits to a value of almost 11 billion. The summit was attended by more than 1,000 international investors, 550 multinationals and 460 venture capitalists, and 10,000 visitors, from 120 different countries. During the course of the summit, inside the Italian Pavilion - sponsored by Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center - our companies had the opportunity to present their own businesses and to meet potential partners and investors.
Within the context of the scientific, technological and industrial cooperation between Italy and Israel, a further promising chapter unfolded involving Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center once again as one of the key players.
The Italian Embassy in Israel, upon the suggestion of the Ministry for Economic Development and in cooperation with Intesa Sanpaolo, launched a call for tenders from Italian start-ups interested in developing their own business plans in Israeli accelerators, which would provide each successful company with a grant of 10,000 euro, the maximum number of awards being ten. Aim: to facilitate the mobility of new Italian start-ups.
Moreover, Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center has been cooperating for several years with Israeli innovation hubs, investors and institutions, often in conjunction with the Italian Embassy. “Within the framework of our projects in Israel” Mario Costantini stated, “this call for tenders represents the chance to offer select start-ups the opportunity to enhance and scale up their operations internationally”.
March 2019
