In the context of digitization and technologization, Israel is excellently positioned and offers highly qualified talents as well as innovative products and solutions. Start-Up Nation Central alone holds over 6,500 startups and is the voice of the tech scene and a strategic cooperation partner of ELNET in Israel.
Close cooperation between German and Israeli companies offers enormous value for Germany as a business location. A study by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy came to this conclusion as early as 2018. Currently, the majority of German medium-sized companies rate the state of their own digitization as only satisfactory. Only every third company has its own central digitization strategy.
The Startup Nation Central focuses on the areas of AgriTech, Digital Health, Cybersecurity, GreenTech, Industry 4.0, and Safe & Smart City (with a focus on energy, mobility, and security). More startups are added every year, and some quickly develop into global players with billions in ratings. In the past year alone, Israel was proud of eleven new Unicorns, more than in any other European country.
There are also plenty of opportunities here for German companies to reduce existing deficits in the area of digitization and technology and to promote synergies. Over the past years, German corporations began to tap into these opportunities with their own branches in Israel.
Yet, the “Mittelstand” – German middle-size companies have so far been quite cautious. There are several reasons for this. In the publication “German and Israeli Innovation – The Best of Two Worlds”, Bertelsmann Foundation identified three key obstacles to successful cooperation between Israeli startups and German medium-sized companies: lack of market access, lack of transparency with regard to relevant market players, and a lack of internal resources to find the right partners.
These challenges can be addressed with the right partners. With offices in Germany and Israel, as well as various local cooperation partners, ELNET is the central point of contact for German and European politics and business when it comes to access to the startup scene in Israel. With its Safe & Smart City Conference, subject-specific summits, and delegation trips, ELNET offers a variety of information, access, and opportunities to find the right innovation partners for German companies.