For 15th century Spanish conquistadors it was El Dorado. For 19th century Gold Rush prospectors it was Klondike. For European entrepreneurs looking for startup gold, the place they aspired to be was Silicon Valley.
And I say “was”, because while the Valley’s allure remains strong, in the last few years, Israel, and its vibrant VC and startup scene, has also captured the hearts and minds of European, and certainly Greek, entrepreneurs.
They surely have been doing something right.
And I know this not just from following the latest startup and VC developments all across Europe (either as CEO of StartTech Ventures or in my previous capacity as the president of YES for Europe), but also from having experienced the Israeli tech scene first-hand, during my visit to Tel-Aviv last May to speak at the Israeli Startup Conference.
In fact I was so impressed by what I saw, that I “put my money where my mouth is” so to speak, and invested in two awesome Israeli startups, Wake-App (led by Mr. Amir Isenberg), a mobile app aiming to make alarm clocks a social experience for the younger demographic, and Take&Make (led by Ms. Mika Kayt), a platform for creating customized gift kits whose clients already include companies like Google, AirBnB, Twitter, Oracle, and other heavyweights, and whose revenues have been impressive from the get go.
At the time of my visit to Tel Aviv it was mostly the other way around: Israeli VCs investing in select Greek startups. I find it interesting that Israeli startups have been starting to receive risk financing from Greek investors, and am especially happy and proud of the bridges we have helped build between Tel-Aviv and Athens.
And it’s not just about its companies and investment opportunities either — it’s rather a whole Israeli mindset and philosophy behind startup growth and entrepreneurship. In this front, too, I had the honor of working with the world renowned Israeli Professor Daniel Isenberg in introducing the ‘Scale-Up’ concept in Europe and in Greece.
I’m writing this long-winded introduction as a prologue to announcing the 2nd annual START TEL AVIV 2016 Competition, to be held in Athens by the Israel Embassy in Athens and the Industry Disruptors – Game Changers, a NGO founded to promote entrepreneurship in the Southeast Europe and East Mediterranean regions.
The competition will see 7 finalists pitching their ideas in front of a panel of judges and a live audience, while the winner will be invited to Israel to attend special workshops and speeches, and meet representatives from the country’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Registrations for the competition can be performed from the event’s webpage until May 20th, 2016. For more information, visit here.
As someone who has heavily invested (no pun intended) to fostering a vibrant entrepreneurial landscape in Greece, I’d like to take the moment to congratulate the organizers for their awesome initiative, and say that, here at StartTech Ventures, we’ll definitely be looking forward to the event.
Dimitris Tsingos
CEO, StartTech Ventures