Technology Oasis Israel

Author丨Ding Weiwei

Editor丨Zhang Yuzhe

Israel, known around the world as a "startup nation", has about 6,000 start-up companies. In just one square mile of land around Rothschild Boulevard in Tel Aviv, Israel's second largest city, there are more than 600 startups, large and small.

In 2018, according to Nasdaq Chairman Nelson Griggs, among the nearly 4,000 companies listed on Nasdaq, Israel included 70, ranking third. Second only to the United States and China, and more than the entire Europe combined.

Since the founding of the country, Israel has been committed to investing in high-tech industries. Whether it is basic science or innovative technology, Israel has its own way of development. Currently, there are 12 Israelis and Israelis who have won the Nobel Prize for their deep research in the fields of genetics, computer science, chemistry and other fields.

Data from the Israel Venture Capital Research Center show that between 2013 and 2017, the amount of capital raised by Israeli high-tech companies has been growing. The country's high-tech companies raised $5.24 billion in financing and completed 620 transactions in 2017***, a 9% increase from the $4.83 billion raised in 2016. Among them, 4 companies have financing amounts exceeding US$100 million.

In October this year, at the 2019 Zhongguancun Forum held in Beijing, Yiou conducted an interview with Professor Adam Schwartz, former deputy dean of the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, and Professor Mordechai Sheves, chairman of Yeda Technology Transfer Company of the Weizmann Institute. An exclusive interview. The reason why Israel can become a country of innovation, we found part of the answer from two professors.

"Israel has a population of about 8.7 million, which is almost the same as Nanjing, China," said Professor Adam, who just finished his trip to Nanjing. "But there are many startups in Israel." Forbes 2018 statistics It shows that there are currently more than 6,000 high-tech start-up companies in Israel. In other words, on average, there is one start-up company for every 1,400 people, a ratio that is far higher than that of developed countries such as the United Kingdom and France.

In Professor Adam’s view, the formation of such an environment friendly to science and technology innovation is composed of many factors.

"Israel is not a very orderly country." The first factor mentioned by Professor Adam surprised Yiou. But he then explained: "Children in Israel are not over-protected like in the West, but have to learn to solve all problems on their own from an early age." This convinced them that nothing is permanent on the edge of chaos and order, It is most practical to rely on your own hands.

In Hebrew, there is a word that is often talked about by the Israelis - Chutzpah. In Judaism, the word means speaking out, challenging authority, and expressing dissent. Zhang Ping, a professor at the Department of East Asia at Tel Aviv University in Israel, said that this kind of courage is the moral support for the practice of Judaism. Therefore, encouraging the expression of different opinions has become a development need. "Tiger-thorn fear" has been reflected in Israeli education. Positive understanding and feedback.

“We strongly encourage students to express their disagreement with teachers’ opinions.” Professor Adam believes that this is also a source of innovation for young people. “They are not willing to stick to the old rules, so they always have new ideas.” And history The Jewish nation has gone through many hardships. After the founding of the country, taking risks while creating better living conditions became the "way out" for the Israelis. In the eyes of Jews, entrepreneurship is also like a kind of risky trial and error. "We have a high tolerance for entrepreneurial failure." Professor Adam said frankly that compared to the losses caused by entrepreneurial failure, they value the benefits of entrepreneurship more. technological breakthrough.

And All People Soldiers has become the best incubator for Israeli science and technology innovation. In the Israeli army, authority is not meant to be protected, but to be challenged at any time. "In the military, soldiers are also encouraged to express their ideas." Professor Adam said, "The military brings together people from all over the country, and communication will also stimulate the collision of ideas."

Israel's role in network security and artificial intelligence The military’s training is indispensable for its advantages in high-tech fields such as intelligence and visual recognition. The most special thing about Israel is its very liberal policy on protecting military high-tech IP. Young soldiers who have retired from the military can use the advanced skills they mastered in the military to start a business. In fact, there are not a few Israeli entrepreneurial teams who got to know each other in the military camp. They are literally "teams that have fought together."

Of course, innovative technology cannot just stay in the sky.

"Some ideas sound crazy and silly when they are proposed." Professor Adam said. What's special about Israel is that it turns these unrealistic-sounding ideas into reality through the help of schools and technology transfer centers.

The survey shows that Israel’s innovation ecological chain generally includes six elements, namely start-ups, engineers, research universities, venture capital, government and large enterprises, which collaborate and interact with each other, and constantly Deducing the process from invention to innovation.

According to Professor Adam, universities are an important part of the Israeli innovation system. The school has a high proportion of commercialization of academic achievements and is the source of a large number of start-ups in Israel. The Technology Transfer Center is a characteristic organization found in every Israeli university, research institute and other institutions. Its role is to push innovative ideas into the market. Mobileye, the world's largest advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) manufacturer, comes from the university's technology transfer institution.

However, the progress of commercialization in different fields varies widely. "In the field of computer science, commercialization will be relatively fast, while in the field of medicine, the commercialization process may be very slow and unpredictable." Professor Mordechai said.

This year, the Weizmann Institute's Yeda Technology Transfer Company and Zhongguancun reached an agreement to build a joint R&D and transformation platform in the field of innovative drugs. The platform was jointly invested and established in China by Zhongguancun Development Group and Shengjing Group, the operator of the Zhongguancun Liaison Office in Israel.

Israel has a population of 8.712 million. Such a population cannot bring a huge domestic market. Therefore, Israeli start-ups must face the world from the beginning.

With the support of a mature system, Israel, the "Silicon Valley of the Middle East", has become the target of acquisitions and investments by major companies in the world. Google took a liking to LabPixies, an Israeli web application developer, and later acquired Waze, a navigation application software company; Samsung once acquired Boxee, an Israeli set-top box manufacturer; not to mention Intel, which favors Israel, even bought it for US$15.3 billion. Super deal to acquire Mobileye.

As China undergoes a transformation from "manufacturing" to "intelligent manufacturing", its interest in Israeli high-tech has not diminished. However, Chinese capital still faces bottlenecks in going overseas to Israel. In terms of acquisitions and mergers of Israeli technology companies, the participation of Chinese companies is still behind the United States, Europe, and even Japan. In the view of the two professors, although China is a very important market for Israel, Sino-Israeli cooperation is still at the exploratory stage.

According to INNONATION data, in the first half of 2019, there were 15 Chinese investments in Israel, including 13 investments with publicly disclosed investment amounts, and a total investment amount of approximately US$365 million. This figure was approximately $570 million in the same period last year.

Professor Mordechai said frankly that the current major investors in Israel are still concentrated in large companies in the United States and Europe. "Chinese investment is more inclined to buy their 'commodities' rather than continue to invest in research and development."

The unequal expectations between the two sides have become an obstacle to Sino-Israeli cooperation. As a country with fierce competition for capital, Israel is not uncommon for gold diggers from various countries. Coupled with the limited capacity of the domestic market, Israel is destined to become a typical technology exporting country. Therefore, it is particularly important to find ideal partners in the export process. . As a source of capital, China is extremely competitive in the market for global commodities, so what China's capital needs to find is the best "commodities."

Professor Mordechai also said that Israel is very concerned about the protection of intellectual property rights. Previously, Israeli companies had hidden concerns about China's intellectual property protection, but such concerns are now weakening.

Due to differences in concepts, both parties approach the negotiation table with different purposes, and the probability of a final deal is not high.

Despite the challenges, China and Israel are still exploring valuable new models of cooperation. "The cooperation between Yeda and Zhongguancun has explored a new mutually beneficial and win-win in-depth cooperation model for China-Israel cooperation, and is expected to promote the construction of my country's in-bed new drug research and development field, enhance my country's innovative drug technology transformation and industrialization capabilities, and form a Innovation and sustainable development,” said Ms. Wang Xiangyun.

From the initial organization of a delegation of entrepreneurs and investors to Israel for visits and exchanges, to the successful investment in a series of top Israeli venture capital funds, to the establishment of the Shengjing Global Innovation Award, Shengjing has been actively involved in China-Israel cooperation. It continues to mature through exploration. In 2017, Shengjing Group was selected by the Israeli Ministry of Economy and Industry as a service provider for the China-Israel Innovation Accelerator; in 2018, Shengjing Group was recognized by the Zhongguancun Management Committee again and assumed the role of Zhongguancun’s Liaison Office in Israel.

Ms. Wang Xiangyun said frankly that the development of Shengjing follows its original Sino-Israeli innovative cooperation model - "Five Ones", which are the five indispensable aspects of Sino-Israeli cooperation. In Israel, firstly, by focusing on Israeli innovative technologies and enterprises, and secondly, through platform-style cooperation with leading Israeli institutions and funds, China can better integrate into Israel's innovation ecosystem.

On the Chinese side, firstly, it combines the innovation landing platform supported by the government and industrial science and technology parks; secondly, it cooperates with leading enterprises with marketization capabilities; thirdly, through a branded service platform that integrates the above-mentioned Chinese and Israeli institutions through services and investment. Enable innovative cooperation to be effectively implemented and developed.

Ms. Wang Xiangyun said, "Shengjing's vision is to become a link between China and Israel for innovative cooperation. Through investment and services, we can better collaborate with the resources of all parties with high quality and efficiency to promote the entire The development of the innovation ecosystem will eventually be deeply integrated with Chinese industries and markets to achieve a win-win situation for both China and Israel.

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