Start-Up Nation Central (SNC) launches UAE-IL Tech Zone, the first UAE and Israel innovation community, in collaboration with Nobex, Hybrid, and Fusion LA

The community will help both nations promote innovation and technology ties through regional and business partnerships 

DUBAI, U.A.E and TEL AVIV, Dec. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Start-Up Nation Central (SNC), Nobex, Hybrid and Fusion LA announce today the launch of the UAE-IL Tech Zone – the first community of its kind, established after the Abraham Accords were signed. The aim of the community is to connect between the innovation-technology-business ecosystem in Israel and its UAE counterpart.

The new community was founded by Noa Gastfreund, managing director of Hybrid, an accelerator for early-stage start-ups with at least one of its founders from the Arab community; Guy Katsovich, co-founder of Fusion LA, which helps Israeli technology ventures penetrate the U.S. market; and Basil Farraj, CEO of the start-up Nobex Technologies.

The exclusive community already includes more than 1000 people in the business, innovation and technology sectors, investors, developers, and government entities from both countries. The community connects between investors and entrepreneurs from both countries and helps Israeli entrepreneurs to deepen their understanding of the business and innovation culture in the UAE.

The community currently runs on LinkedIn, and in the near future the members expect to join physical meetings via delegations to both countries, workshops, round tables, conferences, and relevant activities to emphasize the strengths that each country brings. During 2021 the community will move to a dedicated digital platform that will enable its members to hold discussions in intimate forums, including high-tech investments, fintech, cyber, agriculture, smart transportation, and more.

"The purpose of the community is to provide a cultural and business bridge between the two countries through innovation and technology," says Michal Seror, Start-Up Nation Central Director of Community Development. "Our experience proves that communities are one of the most successful levers for promoting business cooperation. We invite entrepreneurs, senior business executives and government officials, and technology companies to join our exclusive community."

Click here to apply:  https://www.uaeil.tech/

About Start-Up Nation Central (SNC)

Start-Up Nation Central is a non-profit that aims to strengthen the technology innovation industry, a key driver of the Israeli economy, expose its capabilities to the world and encourage growth of the sector in Israel. The company connects between global corporations, industries, governments and the third sector in the Israeli technology innovation ecosystem.

About Fusion LA

Fusion LA is a venture-backed accelerator that was founded three years ago to help Israeli technology entrepreneurs penetrate the American market. Fusion invests $110,000 in each company that participates in the program, and the entrepreneurs get access to the program's support network in Los Angeles and in Silicon Valley, which includes hundreds of investors, entrepreneurs, and professionals, who guide the company in building an appropriate strategy and identify American clients.  Since its establishment, the program has implemented 49 investments, and was chosen as the leading accelerator in Israel for 2020 (GeekTime). Fusion's portfolio companies have raised accumulated funds of over $100M, and 65% of them had second rounds of $1-7M after the program.

About Hybrid

Hybrid is a leading accelerator program in Israel for early-stage start-ups with at least one Arab founder. The Hybrid program is part of the 8200 alumni organization and it aims to advance start-ups to million-dollar companies, and diversifying the "start-up nation".  The program helps entrepreneurs from ideation to first round of fundraising through personal mentoring, lectures, workshops by leading lecturers in Israel and the world, and a vast network of connections in the Israeli ecosystem and various global markets.

Hybrid has an exclusive alumni community, of which 70% of the entrepreneurs are still active, and 60% of all alumni raised funds in the first year after completing the program. Since the program was established in 2016, Hybrid continues to advance ventures in the Arab sector – thereby making the ecosystem more hybrid and inclusive.

About Nobex

Nobex provides digital solutions for audio applications tailored to thousands of broadcasters and podcasters around the world through an online platform and enables building mobile applications in just a few clicks. The platform also provides advanced tools that enable stations to understand their listener's behavior. Nobex is a solution for 90 countries around the world; the platform provides services to 30 million users, and has streamed more than 500 million sessions using its technology since its establishment.