Israeli tech deal flow ‘mind boggling’ says StartUp Tel Aviv SA Challenge winner

Tel Aviv’s startup ecosystem has blown away local entrepreneur Nish Singh who earlier this month attended DLD Tel Aviv Innovation Festival.

“The ecosystem there is warm and open, the tempo is fast and the deal flow is mind boggling,” says Singh, who is the co-founder and COO of Multifractal Semiconductors, a Pretoria-based startup that develops computer chips.

Singh and fellow co-founder Piotr Osuch traveled to Israel from 3 to 7 September to attend the festival after the startup was earlier this year selected as one of the winners of the StartUp Tel Aviv SA Challenge.

The startup was one of 15 startups from Africa, Europe and Asia — chosen from Israeli embassies in each respective region — that visited the festival with the aim of linking up with potential investors, clients or partners.

The ecosystem there is warm and open, the tempo is fast and the deal flow is mind boggling, says StartUp Tel Aviv SA Challenge winner

He said during trip he and Osuch, were approached by market leaders in Israel and Germany who want to integrate Multifractal Semiconductors technology into their systems.

“We got to meet funders, customers, accelerators and startups from all over the world. It will take me weeks to process through all the leads generated in those six days. The ecosystem there is warm and open, the tempo is fast and the deal flow is mind boggling. South Africa can learn a lot from the Israeli startup ecosystem.”

Singh believes the university incubation programme (which is aimed only at students who attend the university), which the startup joined in March this year, played a significant role in the startup’s success in the StartUp Tel Aviv SA Challenge through its training on pitching, communication with potential investors and how to build strategic alliances in tech ecosystems.

“The UPBI has provided a tremendous amount of support. They have organised training and talks from entrepreneurs, access to entrepreneurship conferences, enabled us to network with other startups from UP and lots of positive exposure and PR,” said Singh.

“At one recent entrepreneur development conference we ended up chatting with guys from the DST (Department of Science and Technology),” said Singh.

The incubator, which was launched in 2008, this year received over 360 applications. The incubator’s three-month long rapid incubation programme is run by students and is aimed at pre-revenue startups.

At the end of the incubation programme, six to 10 selected startups will be given an opportunity to meet and pitch to investors for seed funding.

Featured image: Multifractal Semiconductors co-founder and COO Nish Singh at the DLD Tel Aviv Innovation Festival