Monday 20 February 2012

VIDEO: Start-up Nation Business Breakfast with Saul Singer & Frank Meehan

On Tuesday 7 February 2012, the Trade & Economic Office at the Embassy of Israel, together with UK Israel Business, held a joint Business Breakfast Panel Discussion with Saul Singer and Frank Meehan, chaired by Bloomberg TV's Elliott Gotkine.


Saul Singer is the co-author of the book "Start-up Nation: The Story of Israel's Economic Miracle" and Frank Meehan is part of Horizon Ventures' successful VC team which has overseen investments into companies including Spotify, Siri and Summly and notably, in the last year, in Israel's Waze, SightEra, Onavo & TripBoard.


Friday 17 February 2012

Israel Showcase Ready for Mobile World Congress 2012

Preparations are almost complete at the Embassy of Israel’s Trade and Economic Office in London, as the Mobile World Congress 2012 draws ever-closer.

Companies of the highest calibre and who stand at the very forefront of mobile-technology design will all be gathered in Barcelona between 27 February and 1 March for the Mobile World Congress 2012 Conference, to celebrate the most cutting-edge developments that this industry has to offer.

For the sixth consecutive year, the Trade and Economic Office in London will be building on Israel’s ever-growing reputation as a world-leader in both innovation and mobile-technology by showcasing a wide and diverse portfolio of over 60 Israeli companies at the exhibition’s Israel Pavilion.

This Pavilion, which will be opened officially on 27 February with an address by Israel’s Minister of Communications, Moshe Kachlon, is a unique and unrivalled arena within the exhibition that provides a first-class platform for visitors to experience and test-drive a variety of truly world-class Israeli technologies and applications.

This year, the Israel-portfolio technologies featured at the Pavilion contain a variety of solutions in new areas including 4G Technology, Mobile Money and m-Payments, Machine to Machine, Mobile Advertising, Gaming, Automotive Safety, and Video Broadcasting. Additionally, this year will also see a further 43 Israeli applications being showcased at the conference’s first ever Israeli Application Buzz Arena, which is in addition to the 60 Israeli companies at the Pavilion.

With competition in this industry always fierce, Israeli companies are already leading the way with many receiving recognition and critical acclaim. One such company is Saguna Networks, which has been nominated for the GSMA Best Technology Breakthrough Award. This award from the producers of the Mobile World Congress event recognises a company for having made the best technology contributions to increasing mobile usage, expanding the user experience and to helping expand business opportunities.

As in previous years, creating those business opportunities is a key priority for the Trade and Economic Office who are once again arranging introductions between UK and Israeli companies and highlighting the many exciting opportunities for forging new and productive partnerships. At last year’s conference, over 150 meetings took place between British and Israeli companies and arrangements are currently on track for a similar number at this year’s conference.

Last year, Mobile World Congress 2011 was a record-breaking year with over 60,000 people and 1400 exhibitors in attendance from 200 countries, including 3000 CEOs and over 2900 members of the world’s press. With this year’s conference being set to surpass those figures, every effort is being made to ensure that Israel takes full advantage of the opportunities on offer and Noah Shani, the Minister for Trade and Economic Affairs at the Embassy of Israel, London, commented that “Mobile World Congress 2012 is an excellent opportunity for Israel to showcase its expertise, innovation and ingenuity to the other mobile-tech industry leaders and, as in previous years, we again look forward initiating many dynamic partnerships between Israeli and British companies.”

For more information on Israel’s competitive edge or to organise your tour of the Israel Pavilion (at Hall 2 C75) and meet with relevant companies, please visit www.israelmobileinnovation.com or contact Idan Ben Yaacov at the Trade & Economic Office: idan.benyaacov@israeltrade.gov.il.

Thursday 16 February 2012

VIDEO: The Israel Pavilion at MWC 2012

With the Mobile World Congress just around the corner, have a taste of what's to come at the Israel Pavilion with this video.

With Israel being a hub of innovation, the Israel Pavilion at MWC allows guests to experience a variety of technologies in a short period of time.


Experience technologies with our 60 innovators in Hall 2 (Stand 2C75)
Brand new for 2012 - the Application Buzz Arena with over 40 apps.

Contact the Trade & Economic Office for more details...

Thursday 9 February 2012

Report: Start-up Nation Business Breakfast with Saul Singer and Frank Meehan

On Tuesday 7 February 2012, the Trade & Economic Office at the Embassy of Israel, together with UK Israel Business, held a joint Business Breakfast Panel Discussion with Saul Singer and Frank Meehan. Saul Singer is the co-author of the book “Start-up Nation: The Story of Israel’s Economic Miracle” and Frank Meehan is part of Horizon Ventures’ successful VC team which has overseen investments into companies including Spotify, Siri and Summly and notably, in the last year, in Israel’s Waze, SightEra and Onavo.

The oversubscribed event was attended by a select group of 75 senior decision makers and entrepreneurs from across the UK. The event was held at the offices of BDO in central London.

After a networking breakfast, provided by the event sponsors BDO, Saul Singer led a panel discussion on why Israel is a centre for innovation, pointing out that innovation is as much about drive and mission focus as it is about new ideas. Saul stated that “Israel was driven to overcome adversity through innovation”. Frank Meehan also discussed the entrepreneurial culture in Israel and why Israel was so appealing for foreign investors.

The panel discussion was moderated by Bloomberg TV correspondent, Elliott Gotkine. At the end of the panel discussion, Frank Meehan and Saul Singer took and answered questions from the audience – prompting a discussion on “what is next for Israel and what is the next ‘big innovation’ to come out of Israel”.

Following on from the panel discussion, guests were given a copy of Saul Singer’s book, “Start-Up Nation: The Story of Israel’s Economic Miracle” signed by the author.



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The Start-up Nation Business Breakfast was part of a three day programme organised by the Embassy of Israel including visits to UK universities, UK startup incubators and meetings with key relevant British individuals.
Whilst in London, Saul Singer was interviewed across the media, including live on Bloomberg TV and by City A.M.

The interest generated from this recent exposure of Israel as the innovation hub has served as at catalyst for further business relations between the UK and Israel.