Growing start-ups, a serious matter at Facebook Israel’s ‘Playground’ hub
Israel’s branding as the “Start-Up Nation” excelling in cybersecurity, fintech or enterprise software has largely been due to its successes in business-to-business (B2B) technology.
According to a recent report by nonprofit Start-Up Nation Central, there are currently more than 5,300 active B2B companies in Israel and approximately 2,000 business-to-consumer (B2C) companies, selling products and services directly to individual customers. For B2C startups, social media platforms, including Facebook and Instagram, serve as critical tools for reaching new customers. Some estimates suggest that a staggering 97% of B2C marketers promote their businesses using Facebook.
With that in mind, Facebook Israel’s new “Playground” hub in Tel Aviv put consumer-facing innovation at the forefront of its efforts to embrace the local start-up ecosystem. Inaugurated in August by the social media giant’s chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg, the Playground on Rothschild Boulevard offers cutting-edge facilities for startups and entrepreneurs.
The hub is also home to Facebook Israel’s Start-Up Growth Program, a new course for promising consumer-centric companies that have raised capital and are now eager to scale up. Thirteen companies, which have jointly raised $91 million in funding, recently completed the first cycle of the program.
“We know that our teams at Facebook developed consumer-focused methodologies that were proved as best-practices,” Roni Bonjack, head of EMEA developer and start-up programs at Facebook, told The Jerusalem Post. “Our mission is to make those best practices accessible to the start-ups in Israel.”
“We want to see the Playground as the home of industry in Israel and build a community of consumer-orientated start-ups, putting people in the center. We see the potential in Israel, and we think it can bring more job opportunities and think it may become the next growth engine of the Israeli economy.”
The program is not revenue growth-focused, Bonjack said, but Facebook is aware that helping start-ups to grow ultimately builds a stronger ecosystem.
“Wherever the start-up ecosystem thrives, then all of us thrive,” she said.
Participating start-ups in the first cohort included a grocery distribution-tech company, an insurance platform for drones and scooters, a customizable business app builder, and a digital banking platform for migrant workers.
“If we are here to build a scalable business out of Israel, we know we have to empower the whole leadership team,” said Bonjack, detailing how the program offers four professional tracks for business leaders, providing tailored workshops and mentoring for CEOs, CTOs, VPs of product and VPs of marketing.
“In many Facebook teams, they primarily work with clients on media and campaigns. That’s not the case here in Israel,” Bonjack said. “The Israel office really works with partners according to a 360-degree approach, looking mainly at strategy and how to help these businesses grow.”
According to Adi Azaria, the CEO of participating start-up Workiz, professional life is a matter of “constant learning.” The software start-up, which has raised $2 million in funding, assists field service professionals, including electricians and handymen, run more professional and profitable businesses.
“The Playground offered an opportunity for me to learn further, to learn new methodologies and new ways of how to make successful business,” said Azaria, who previously co-founded business intelligence firm Sisense. After joining the program, Workiz opted to invest greater sums in video-based marketing rather than text or images to increase its exposure.
“The customer world is huge and it’s a very noisy world, where people are being sold everything, from toothpaste to restaurants and food,” she said. “Everybody wants attention. Imagine being a start-up trying to be seen in this kind of market.”
While some start-ups famously began in their founder’s garage, Shookit joined Facebook’s Start-Up Growth Program after emerging from Tel Aviv’s Carmel Market. The start-up offers a direct-to-consumer e-commerce grocery service, providing an alternative to the traditional model of fruit and vegetable supply.
“Our brand is mostly based on experience,” said Shookit chief marketing officer Dan Eblagon. “Our target users and audience are in their 20s and 30s, mostly on Instagram, young parents. It was amazing to work with a partner at Facebook where we built relationships with our consumers. We received the chance to hear a lot of things under the hood that were super valuable, from strategic and creative thinking to how to optimize and understand how the platform works. For most of the teams that participated in the program, it was valuable to meet other founders, share and talk about similar challenges.”
While Shookit has directed its attention to individual consumers as it digitizes one of the world’s oldest trades,
Eblagon says the program made it clear that the B2B world can have plenty in common with their consumer-focused efforts.
“There are a lot of B2B approaches,” Eblagon said. “When you go to sell to a restaurant or coffee shop or a 50-employee start-up, you don’t target enterprises anymore. You find the right person. So we now know to build our value proposition as a more consumer-focused company than ever.”