Israeli, Indian partners team up with Motorola to launch Jerusalem hi-tech start-up incubator
Aiming to give Jerusalem-based start-ups a global edge, Israeli and Indian partners have teamed up with American data communications giant Motorola Solutions to establish a hi-tech incubator.
The incubator, led by equity crowdfunding platform OurCrowd, will focus on frontier technologies such as big data, analytics, artificial intelligence, fintech, storage, the Internet of Things and computer vision, according to the partners. Other partners in running the venture, which will be housed at OurCrowd’s Jerusalem headquarters, will include the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Yissum Technology Transfer Company and Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries.
“This represents a unique team with a global reach, incredible scale, and with deep technological, commercial and academic roots,” said Jon Medved, CEO of OurCrowd. “We expect to invest in close to 50 companies over the next 10 years and further grow the formidable cadre of Jerusalem start-ups.”
OurCrowd will be replacing Jerusalem Venture Partners, which previously led the incubator, launching operations and accepting applications in the second half of 2017. The venture will be part of the larger incubator program overseen by the Israel Innovation Authority.
“In today’s technology environment, strong partnerships and strategic investments help accelerate innovation,” said Eduardo Conrado, executive vice president for strategy and innovation at Motorola Solutions. “The Jerusalem incubator is one element of our Israel innovation hub, which is focused on developing advanced solutions in artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and other fields.”
A representative of Reliance Industries, meanwhile, expressed confidence in the promise of Israeli start-ups and the “unique value proposition” they offer “by delivering next-gen digital services.
“We believe the incredible technological innovation from Israel will gain immensely by addressing the huge Indian market riding on the nationwide 4G LTE [high-speed wireless communication] digital infrastructure set up in India by Jio,” the representative said, referring to a mobile network operator owned by Reliance. “This will be a significant win-win for both India and Israel.”