Chinese investors become increasingly important part of Israel's start-up communities

TEL AVIV - Chinese investors, who are "very active" in seeking opportunities in Israel's high-tech industry, are becoming an increasingly important part of Israel's start-up communities.

"At least one Chinese delegation is coming to Israel every week," Aharon Aharon, CEO of Israel Innovation Authority, told Xinhua on the sidelines of the International Start-up Community Leaders Summit held in Tel Aviv-Yafo on March 19-21.

"We have a lot of Chinese delegations and we are very happy with that," Aharon said.

A lot of Chinese companies have presence in Israel with a lot of investments in the Jewish state , said Aharon, who was CEO of Apple Israel.

In recent years, China and Israel have stepped up hi-tech cooperation, mainly focusing on information technology, life sciences and healthcare, cyber security, energy, advanced manufacturing, and robotics.

Chinese giants such as Huawei and Alibaba have also established their R&D centers in Israel, and some Chinese funds are also active in investing in Israeli start-ups.

In future, Chinese companies will act globally as well as American and European companies, Aharon said.

In an ancient house located in the ancient port city of Jaffa, more than 100 young start-up founders and people with start-up dreams from over 40 countries gathered to share their opinions on how to successfully develop their start-ups and secure investment and market resources from around the world.

The ecosystem is very important for the start-ups to grow, and communities bringing people, investors, customers and resources together are very supportive for companies especially for the start-ups, Sharon Savariego, CEO and founder of Mobilize, a start-up providing tools of building communities, told Xinhua.

"China is the future, and China understands the values of communities," said Savariego, while expressing the hope that her company will gain support from Chinese companies and venture funds.

So far, there are around 6,000 hi-tech start-ups operating in Israel. In 2017, Israeli start-ups raised a record high of $5.24 billion, according to a report issued by IVC Research Center and Zysman Aharoni Gayer & Co law firm.

It is the functioning ecosystem of innovation that made Israel successful, said Aharon in a speech at the summit.

The star-ups summit, the first of its kind in Israel, is organized by Oren Seminian and Mike Silberg, two entrepreneurs passionate about communities and innovation, with the support of the Tel Aviv Municipality, the Start-up Nation Central and the Peres Center for Innovation and Peace.