Samsung makes a TV that allows two people to watch different shows on the same set at the same time. You read that correctly.
If
you own a Samsung multi-view TV, you'll need special glasses with a
headphone jack to watch and listen to your show -- and not whatever the
person sitting next to you is watching.
Do we really need this?
More than half of American homes have at least three TV sets, according
to Nielsen. At least multi-view has the potential of bringing families
together again -- or at least to the same couch, plugged into different
programs.
"Startup Nation" actually breeds a lot of U.S.-based firms -- especially in New York City.
About ten new Israeli startups are added to the New York community
every month, a trend Guy Franklin has been noticing for the past six
months.
Franklin works as an accountant at Ernst & Young but tracks Israeli startups in his spare time. When he started Israeli Mapped in NY in 2013, there were about 60 Israeli startups in New York. Now there are roughly 200.
Israel has the highest density of tech startups in the world. There are
currently 62 Israeli companies listed on the Nasdaq exchange (it's the
third highest country behind the U.S. and China) with a combined market
value of $36 billion. Israel also spends the highest percent of its GDP
on scientific R&D, according to the World Bank (4.4% compared to
2.7% for the United States). Related: Israel's high-tech boom
This has made the country ripe for entrepreneurial ventures. And
because Israel's tech industry has mirrored the broader sector --
shifting from hardware to consumer-focused products -- this necessitates
moving closer to its global consumer marketplace.
Establishing
a U.S. base has become "part of the evolution" of Israeli companies,
according to Nili Shalev, economic minister of North America for the
Government of Israel Economic Mission.
"Israel is a small country from a consumer perspective," explains Shalev. "[Companies] needto be near the customers to adapt the product to the market needs."
New York doesn't just offer a mass of potential customers.
Entrepreneurs have access to capital, a wealth of advisers and a shorter
time difference to Israel than in the Bay Area.
But all of
Israel's tech talent had made for fierce competition when it comes to
getting attention from investors and gaining traction among U.S.
consumers.
"The ability for startups to move from Tel-Aviv to
New York and to successfully expand is becoming harder and harder," said
Eyal Bino, who runs Worldwide Investor Network, an accelerator platform
that helps early-stage foreign tech startups find mentors and funding
in New York. Related: The man behind those irresistible links
Through WIN, Bino has worked with 58 startups in the past three years -- 23 of which were founded by Israelis.
In March, he launched Accelerant, a micro fund for Israeli startups.
The fund will provide a minimum of $500,000 to help companies grow their
business -- from moving operations to New York to raising their next
round of funding. Bino hopes to invest in two startups this year and
estimates investing up to $20 million by 2018.
Thanks in part
to endeavors like Accelerant, Israeli startups are growing by at least
the same rate, if not faster, than their homegrown New York
counterparts, according to Danny Schultz, co-founder and managing
director of Gotham Ventures. Schultz has been following the Israeli tech
scene since the mid-1980s and said Israel has more startups in New York
than any other country.
This has helped the country's tech startups thrive (Outbrain), find buyers(Boxee TV, bought by Samsung(SSNLF); Adap.tv, bought by AOL(AOL, Tech30)) and go public (Wix(WIX)). Franklin has all of them on his map, along with a few accelerators, like Accelerant.It's
a loose count, as it largely depends on founders giving Franklin a
heads-up to their existence. But it's such a tight network that he said
he's usually pretty clued in to the movement.
This month, he
added Wanderant, a DIY travel planning startup; Circlezon, an app that
manages all your social networks; and Switch, a job search network
geared toward media and tech professionals. Each is vetted before going
on the map, which he updates regularly.
Though it's no small
undertaking to stay on top of the growing tech scene, Franklin says he
"enjoys every minute" of his project -- so much so that he launched Israeli Mapped in Boston less than a year ago. His motive? To change the conversation about Israel through the success of the country's startups. Related: Big tech scrambles for Israeli firms
