By Doreen Hemlock
Israeli tech made global headlines this month when Google’s parent company Alphabet agreed to pay $32 billion to buy Israel-based cybersecurity venture Wiz, Alphabet’s biggest purchase yet and the largest tech deal ever in the Middle East country dubbed “Startup Nation.”
Now comes a South Florida conference focused on Israel’s tech offerings: the first Israel Tech Week in Miami, kicking off March 27 and expected to draw more than 2,500 people. The event features 50-plus speakers from startups, finance groups, government and more.
Leaders of South Florida’s Miami_Israel Collective, a group promoting ties between the two tech ecosystems, are spearheading the week-long activities to highlight business opportunities in sectors as diverse as real estate, agriculture, finance, Artificial Intelligence, health and more.
“This is a platform to build partnerships,” says Lior Halabi, co-founder and CEO of the event.
Israel Tech Week dovetails with eMerge Americas, South Florida’s premier tech conference set for March 27-28 at the Miami Beach Convention Center. Some 15 Israeli companies will showcase their wares in an Israeli pavilion at eMerge. On Thursday, Israel’s consul general in Miami, the mayor of Miami Beach and other leaders will headline a reception for the week-long event.
After eMerge, Israel Tech Week will offer panels at different venues across greater Miami on topics including travel and hospitality, food, cybersecurity, wellness and construction.
Why Miami-Israel tech ties are strengthening
Israel Tech Week builds on strong and growing Miami-Israeli tech ties, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic. Increasingly, Israeli ventures are choosing South Florida as their US or Americas headquarters, rather than New York or California. That’s because of Miami’s rise as a global tech hub, its role as a gateway to Latin America, weather similar to Israel’s, plus its vibrant Jewish and Israeli communities, tech leaders say.
Since Israel was attacked on Oct. 7, 2023 and war began, “it’s very hard to bring industry people from the US to Israel,” so Tech Week helps bring Israelis to Miami to expand cooperation, says Halabi. Dozens of Israeli and South Florida groups are contributing, including Israel Advanced Technologies Industries (IAT1), Israel Export Institute, American Jewish Committee and Florida-Israel Business Accelerator (FIBA), to name a few. FIBA alone has helped 30-plus Israeli companies set up or expand in Florida, many in greater Miami.
Israel has earned the nickname “Startup Nation” because of its stellar innovation. The small country produces more new tech ventures per person than any nation worldwide, attracting more venture capital per person than any other country, industry reports show. Analysts link that innovation to Israel’s strong education system; compulsory military service, which fosters teamwork, responsibility and problem-solving; and ample government support for incubators, accelerators, labs and other elements in the tech ecosystem, among other factors.
Among Israeli tech firms setting up in South Florida: Biobeat
With just 9.5 million residents, Israel is too little a market for its ventures to grow significantly. So, Israeli firms look overseas to scale-up, especially to the US, the world’s largest tech market. South Florida now is a favored US launchpad, as Israel’s Arik Ben Ishay can attest. He leads Tel Aviv-based Biobeat, which has 35 employees and raised $20 million in funding to date.
Biobeat just set up its US hub in Fort Lauderdale to expand US sales of its wearable devices that monitor blood pressure, heart rate and other conditions, with no cuffs or wires. Ben Ishay says his team chose South Florida, partly because the area has some of the highest rates of high blood-pressure in the US, and it hosts a leading US medical facility focused on the condition: the UnIversity of Miami Health System’s Comprehensive Hypertension Center.
“There’s also something I see in the people in Miami that I don’t see in New York: they’re very warm, want to do business, and in the medical community, are very open to innovation,” says Ben Ishay. “In Miami, it seems everyone wants to talk about new technology and innovation.”
Israel Tech Week wraps up April 3, with a startup showcase highlighting some 25 Israeli ventures. For the complete agenda, click here.
Photo at the top of the post: Lior Halabi and Ayal Stern, the duo behind the Miami_Israel Collective and Israel Tech Week.
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