Capturing Innovation: MIBA’s Israel Team Visits Emerging Ecosystem Hubs
Written by Esther Loewy, MIBA Senior Director of Market Expansion – Michigan/US
The MIBA Israel team continues to expand its network by visiting with ecosystem leaders across regions and sectors. Last month, we took a trip to the south of Israel to connect with SouthUp, a regional incubator focused on nurturing startups in the Western Negev of Israel in several sectors aligned with the State of Michigan. That same month, I attended a Carbon Farming event at the Netter Center, an entrepreneurial Food & Ag Tech hub – a timely opportunity to further promote the December AgTech Delegation to Michigan.
SouthUp - An Innovation Boom in Israel's South
The MIBA Israel team spent a day in Sderot, a Western Negev city in Israel, last month to experience Israeli innovation hubs beyond central Israel. We met with SouthUp’s management and engaged with several companies from their significant portfolio; representing healthtech, homeland security and ag/food tech.
SouthUp’s mission is to create an entrepreneurial ecosystem for companies located in the Gaza Envelope consisting of an innovation and educational center and hi-tech park. Notably, since the Oct 7th terror attacks on Israel, Israeli and global multinational companies are further motivated to invest funding, resources and talent to realize the potential of the South.
SouthUp boasts dedicated “sub-accelerators” which support specific sectors and serve as pilots for their unique “incubator for other incubators model.”
Netter Carbon Farming
I was delighted to be invited to attend the Carbon Farming event organized by the Netter Center, an “entrepreneurship hub dedicated to cultivating technology-based solutions to meet agrifood and climate challenges.” It proved to be an ideal setting for smart networking and engaging with innovative Israeli AgTech companies. A bonus was successfully recruiting GrowingIL, Israel’s AgTech ecosystem leader, to partner with the MIBA for the December AgTech Delegation to Michigan.
