Tel Aviv Launches New Initiative To Draw More Global Corporations, Entrepreneurs

The city of Tel Aviv recently unveiled a new municipality initiative to draw in more international entrepreneurs and multinational corporations, launching a set of “services” to make the process of setting up shop in the city smoother.

Tel Aviv is home to some 100 global corporations in 2020, up from 70 in 2017, in addition to the 2,000 startups and companies based in Israel’s financial capital, the municipality said last month. Tel Aviv is known for being the city with the highest concentration of startups per capita in the world. International R&D centers have increased in the city by 30 percent in three years, the city said.

The program, called “Soft Landing,” offers to guide entrepreneurs through the initial transition into the city by introducing them to the local ecosystem and helping them build their networks. There’s also guidance on registering entities and companies, navigating tax authorities and immigration issues, setting up office space, obtaining grants and tax benefits, building teams, and an introduction to the local business culture.

“The Tel Aviv ecosystem is considered a leader in nurturing the entrepreneurial spirit and is home to a large number of startups, collaborative workspaces, and acceleration programs, creating an attractive environment for international entrepreneurs and corporations. Newcomers will be joining companies such as Visa, Google, Ford, Salesforce, Index, Coca-Cola, Amazon, as well as additional multinationals who already have R&D centers in the city,” the Tel Aviv municipality said in the announcement.

Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai said: “Over the past decade, our city has been experiencing a unique phenomenon: from a local economic hub, serving mainly the Israeli market, Tel Aviv has become an international hub, attracting talent and companies from all over the world with a clear focus on the creative and technology industries. A massive investment in Tel Aviv’s infrastructure, coupled with a clear policy to attract young people to the city, resulted in Tel Aviv becoming a center for innovative companies – the Startup City of the Startup Nation.”

Michal Michaeli, International Economic Development Director at Tel Aviv Global and Tourism added: “We are experiencing an increase in companies moving to Israel and are noticing a shift in reason as to why they move. In the past, if a company acquired a startup or a certain technology, they would take part of their activity to Israel. However, today we are seeing more and more companies, especially in leading fields such as AI, Cloud Computing and Mobility, making the move simply because they want to be a part of our thriving ecosystem.”