20 years
ago, Israel's biggest export was oranges. Now at only 68 years old and with a
population of less than 9 million, Israel is one of the most entrepreneurial
lands on Earth. Its dynamic population thrives upon cultural, religious and
ethnic diversity resulting from the absorption of immigrants from 130
countries. Israel is a country known around the world as "The Startup
Nation". Through its human capital, Israel generates more startup
companies than other larger, industrial nations like Japan, China, Korea,
Canada, Germany and the UK. In addition, Israel has attracted over twice as
much venture capital investment per capita as the US and 30 times more than all
the members of the European Union combined.
Tel Aviv
is the business capital of Israel and a leading innovation hub with a local
ecosystem of world class tech talents, dozens of leading multinationals and
hundreds of tech startups. The city was named Europe’s leading tech hub by the
Wall Street Journal, ranked by Startup Genome as the 2nd best place in the
world to open a startup and most recently ranked by Savills as one of the
world's top three tech cities alongside San Francisco and Austin.
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What is
the Start Tel Aviv Competition 2016?
Start Tel
Aviv 2016 is a global competition held by The Israeli Ministry of Foreign
Affairs and Tel Aviv Municipality that brings together startups from 30
different countries around the world to compete for the opportunity to take
part in an intense, all-expenses-paid five-day startup experience in Tel Aviv's
unrivaled startup ecosystem. This year, Israel in Australia is lucky enough to also be partnering with StartupAUS, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce.
Start Tel
Aviv Competition 2016 Theme
Women are
underrepresented in the international startup world. However, Israel’s
ecosystem of startups boasts of companies with many talented female
entrepreneurs and there has been a growing trend of bold female entrepreneurs
who are founding and building companies that bring innovative and unique
technologies to address huge markets.
This
year’s competition has special focus on women – the event is looking for the
top female Startup founder or director. Women who are on the SENIOR management
team of a Startup are also eligible to apply.
Entry
Criteria
1. The founders/directors/senior managers
of the startup must be women.
2. The startup must be in the field of ICT
– mobile applications, web technologies, cyber security etc.
3. The startup must have at least a
prototype of their product.
4. The company must be independent –
shareholders should not be other big and established companies.
How do I
enter?
Send a pitched deck and commentary OR a short
video showcasing your prototype or product to startup@canberra.mfa.gov.il by June 24th 2016 and the
following:
·
Name of company, name and designation/position in
company of applicant and contact details including the website of the business
·
How long the company has been in operation
·
Description of what the company does
·
What stage of development the startup is in (i.e. idea/concept
stage, beta/prototype stage, revenue stage, expanding to new markets)
·
The number of directors/founders/senior managers at
the company that are women
·
If the company is owned by any private investors
·
If you hold IP rights for your product
The
Prize
The winning startup from
each country will travel to Israel for an all-expense-paid five-day startup
experience in the heart of Tel Aviv, September 25-29, 2016, during the exciting
and innovative DLD Tel Aviv Innovation Festival . This is Israel's largest international hi-tech gathering, featuring hundreds of startups, VC’s, angel investors and leading multinationals. The Festival is comprised of a long list of events, conferences, meet-ups, mingles and gatherings, all focusing on different sides of digital, technological, social and urban innovation. See the video at the bottom of this page to understand the festival experience!
T
he Australian winner, along with winners from each of the 30 participating countries, will have the opportunity to meet the coolest and smartest companies, techies, investors, designers, artists, scientists, and cultural drivers from Israel and abroad. In Tel Aviv, the winners will be joined by local Israeli entrepreneurs to participate in lectures, workshops and meetings with leading Israeli investors and professionals.
See below for what your timetable could look like (example only):
|
Day 1
|
·
Meeting with experienced mentors and advisors
·
Exposure to experts and professionals from a
multitude of industries
·
Meeting multinationals and M&A representatives
|
|
Day 2
|
·
A chance to pitch top angel investors and venture
capitalists
·
Get tips and even ‘on the spot’ investments
|
|
Day 3
|
·
Access to Europe’s top tech conference brand -Tel
Aviv DLD Conference, a global gathering of innovators and entrepreneurs from
around the world, held throughout Tel Aviv in mid-October.
|
|
Day 4
|
·
Participation in Open Startup: A city wide event celebrating the startup
city of Tel Aviv where local startups and accelerators open their doors to
the general public and share their secrets.
|
|
Day 5
|
·
Touring Israel: A VIP visit to Jerusalem.
|
The Judges
To be confirmed.