How did Israel become the new Silicon Valley?

While Silicon Valley is one of the most notorious tech hubs around the globe, a less expected competitor is coming right behind it, with so many promises and perspectives – Israel. Not only the region has a prolific character when it comes to numbers in Israel and outside (there are more than 200 Israeli start ups in New York, for instance), but also profitable. The progressive Israeli city of Tel Aviv is one of the hottest tech hubs that give the world a vast number of start-ups with various profiles. Moola is one of the examples that first come to mind. The crowdfunding platform lets people raise money for those causes in which they believe in the most, and there are plenty. But below are some things that lead to the country’s development and how it is nowadays comparable with the American-Dream Silicon Valley.

Facebook – The Unexpected Pioneer in Israeli Tech Start-up Development

The social networking giant has its fair share when it comes to contributing to the development of the Israeli start-up nation and tech hubs. It all began with purchasing for the impressive amount of $120 million of a data compression software start up that was based there – Onavo. Then, in a collaboration with Snaptu, the company made its services available to those that aren’t the lucky owners of a smartphone. This is how Facebook and Twitter can now be used on some of the most basic mobile devices. When it comes to the inhabitants and citizens of the developing countries, this collaboration between an Israeli start up and the social media giant could mean social interaction made easy and accessible at a large scale. With the introduction of India visa online products for Israelis, collaboration opportunities between the two countries have an immense potential, as two of the most prolific developing tech hubs.

Military Training as Opposed to Creativity

Many experts think that what makes Israel show so much potential when it comes to tech developments and innovative ideas, is the military training. Unsurprisingly, military training inspires in young entrepreneurs the “anti-hierarchical” culture which fuels creativity and the entrepreneurial spirit. When you want to oppose your ideas to a strict behaviour, nothing seems to burden your creativity. A good example is the case of Pay Pal and Fraud Sciences, a small Israeli start up. As many may already know Pay Pal bought the small start-up a while ago, and the reason for whcih the Pay Pal CEO seemed to be impressed by the juniors at Fraud Sciences was a small detail: the lack of inhibitions of the juniors to challenge notions and ideas and create new perspectives on already-known facts and practices.

Flexible Immigration Policies Drive Change

When diverse views on a matter gather, they create a completely new and innovative product. This is what drives the change in the Israeli start-up environment. The country has flexible immigration policies and makes it possible for a variety of nations to come and work here.

The short but impressive story of the start-up environment in Israel makes many think that it has a bigger potential than the American Silicon Valley, and this may, in fact, be true.