In honor of the incubator in Misgav being named Outstanding Incubator for 2009 we are beginning a multi-post series on Technological Incubators in northern Israel.
Here’s a few facts about the incubators program in Israel taken from the official site of the incubators program :
- The program was originally initiated in 1991 to help entrepreneurs who had immigrated to Israel to develop their ideas. Since then the program was extended to non-immigrants and now is open to all Israeli citizens.
- The program is administered by the office of the Chief Scientist of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor.
- There are currently 24 incubators in Israel located from the Negev to the upper Galilee, with 15 located in the periphery.
- There is one incubator devoted specifically to Biotech (in Jerusalem).
- There is a Jewish-Arab incubator in Nazareth which is the first incubator of its type to be co-owned by Jewish and Israeli Arabs businessmen.
- There are about 200 companies operating in incubators.
- As of 2007 the type of companies in incubators were as follows: 39% medical device, 19% software, 19% biotech, 9% electronics and the rest split between agriculture, communications, environment, and machinery.
- By the end of 2006, the total cumulative private investment in graduate incubator companies surpassed $1.5 billion.
- By the end of 2006, over 1000 projects had matured and left the incubators. Of these graduates, 57% have successfully attracted private investments.
In our next post we will begin to feature individual incubators starting with the Yozmot HaEmek incubator.
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