Porsche to set up Tel Aviv ‘innovation office’ and invest millions in Israeli technology

The German sports-car manufacturer Porsche will establish an “innovation office” in Tel Aviv and invest “tens of millions of euros” in Israeli start-ups and venture-capital funds to access the country’s talent pool.

“Israel is a key market for IT experts and engineers. It has more start-ups per capita than any other country in the world. This talent and technological know-how coupled with the great expertise offered by our employees creates the ideal breeding ground for future business models,” Lutz Meschke, deputy chairman of Porsche’s Executive Board and member of its Executive Board for Finance and IT, said in a statement released Thursday.

Porsche’s first step will be to invest “eight figures” in the Magma and Grove venture capital funds, followed by further investments in start-ups and funds. Magma Venture fund, which has been investing since 1999, and specializes in artificial intelligence and automotive innovations. Grove Ventures, established in 2015, specializes in early-stage investment in IoT (Internet of Things), Cloud technologies and artificial intelligence.

“Porsche is a company that draws on innovation,” the statement read. “By setting up the office in Tel Aviv, [Porsche] intends to guarantee access to technology trends and talent.”

Porsche is not the first carmaker to look to the Start-Up Nation for technology. Intel recently purchased Mobileye, a Jerusalem-based autonomous driving company for $15 billion.

“Autonomous cars are not a dream anymore,” Mobileye CEO Ziv Aviram told The Jerusalem Post in an interview last year. “It’s not a matter of if. It’s a matter of when.”