Scouting mission to Israel? Let's do it!
Last week, Triumf Health was in Israel as part of the Startup Lighthouse delegation with nine other amazing European start-ups, all from different industries. We spent five days deep diving into Israeli unique ecosystem, learning more about the history of the start-up nation and meeting people who have transformed the vision for technology. For Triumf, it was an amazing opportunity to understand the field of digital health and introduce our health app in one of the most tech-savvy countries.
But firstly, what’s so unique about Israel? Israel has a strong focus on technology innovation, which is acknowledged globally. In fact, Israel has the highest investment per capita in the world. With more than 10,000 start ups and $42.8 billion raised for high-tech companies, Israel is recognised as a leading innovative technology center, 2nd only to Silicon Valley. How cool is that? Healthcare is the 3rd most invested sector in Israel, following cyber security and fintech.
Our mission started with visits to the Start-Up Nation Centre and Peres Centre of Innovation to help demonstrate how and where innovation in Israel comes from. For the first time, I was able to see and feel innovation, rather than just hear about it. And not only that, we had the privilege to meet some of these brilliant companies, such as OrCam - the world’s most advanced wearable AI-driven artificial vision innovator, or Vayyar that develops unique imaging sensors, based on proprietary radio waves technology, and uses it for example to detect breast cancer. What’s also cool is that the whole Israeli ecosystem is mapped in the Startup Nation Finder, so that startups, investros, hubs etc. are easily found and reached, allowing quick and effective collaboration. Other countries have a lot to learn from this!
The mission continued with visits to Google Campus, where we learned about the importance of market-fit, met Israeli corporates and again, some of the most successful startups. Another memorable session was delivered by Lior Shoham, where through story telling and discussions we learned how to pitch our solution in under 20 seconds. Intense but so much fun! Key take-aways were to choose to remember, especially when it comes to names (btw Lior had learned all of our names prior to meeting us) and to create feelings, not purely state facts.
In the evenings, the Lighthouse team had organised amazing dinner and networking events, in authentic Israeli style. Definitely something that I will remember for a long time. Our trip ended in the most historic city in the world – Jerusalem. Given its history, you can imagine that technological innovation did not have the most favourable ground for growth. But with the vision and ambition of, literally, a handful of people, the meaning of entrepreneurship for Jerusalem is changing. Truly an inspiring visit, showing how collaboration and leadership can unite society and bring innovation in the middle of it.
And of course, let’s not forget the people that I got to meet in the middle of this. Starting from our own delegation, I was very fortunate to network with such passionate and ambitious people. Thanks so much to the whole team, Mor, Dorota, Doville, Vasia and Daniel and Startup Lighthouse & German Tech for that opportunity. Stay tuned, Israel, we’re only just getting started with you!