5 years later Tel Aviv promenade upgrade finalized

Started more than 5 years ago, the renovation of the Tayelet in Tel Aviv has now finally reached the southern part of the city, across from the Royal Beach hotel. With the removal of  the old Dolphinarium having finally started last month, it's now a question of months until the promenade upgrade is now fully completed, allowing tourists and residents alike to stroll along the sea from Bat Yam all the way to Herzliya.

Since its inception in the late 1930’s, the central promenade of Tel Aviv played a key role in establishing the ever-changing connection between the city and its shore. In all of the various phases of its life, whether the modest walkway of the 1930’s, the neglected site of the 1960’s, or the renovated version of the 1980’s, the elevated boardwalk acted as a border that blocked the natural pedestrian flow between the city and its beach. The renovation project aimed to transform this historical blockade by creating a new continuous interface that enables free pedestrian flow to and from the sandy beach, throughout the city’s central waterfront. Moreover, serving as the main waterfront public space of the entire metropolitan area, the new promenade and its sitting-terraces was designed to offer a generous array of seats and relaxation opportunities along the seafront, in order to host great many new visitors, and create a hospitable and lively public domain for this large dense urban area.

Tel Aviv high-tech accounts for 1 in 10 jobs in the city

If there was ever any doubt that Tel Aviv is the beating heart of the startup nation, a new report by Tel Aviv Global settles it. Not only does Tel Aviv have 2,000 high-tech companies, but one out of every 10 jobs in the city is in the high-tech sector.

The report is based on data conducted by IVC Research in preparation for the DLD Tel Aviv Innovation Festival taking place this week. Tel Aviv Global is a municipal agency that manages various incentives for entrepreneurs setting up in the city.

The new report points out that the city has doubled the number of international R&D centers over the past five years – from 35 in 2012 to 73 in 2017. Well-known international companies now having a tech presence in Tel Aviv include Visa, Renault-Nissan, Bosch, MasterCard, Google, Facebook, Amazon, Coca-Cola, Microsoft, AOL, Samsung, Siemens, PayPal, Deutsche Telekom, Citibank, Intel, Yahoo, Barclays, IBM and Apple.

These international R&D centers provide over 6,200 jobs, according to the report. The 2,000 total high-tech companies in Tel Aviv, moreover, constitute about a quarter of the number of companies in the high-tech sector in Israel overall.

What kind of high-tech companies open shop in Tel Aviv? It used to be more seed-stage companies, but that’s shifted to more R&D-stage companies. “This shift in the composition of startups is evidence of a maturation of startups in the city and their progression from idea stage to a process of research and development,” Tel Aviv Global commented.

Tel Aviv’s interest in attracting more international R&D centers is key for the future of the entire industry, Tel Aviv Global CEO Eytan Schwartz said the agency is “working with our governmental partners on continuing the process of attracting international R&D centers; opening international accelerators; encouraging foreign entrepreneurs to work in the city; and promoting the activity of global corporations with an emphasis on Chinese companies.”

Tel Aviv Global isn’t the only organization that sees the value of Tel Aviv’s intense concentration of startups. The Virgin.com website called Tel Aviv “one of the world’s best startup hubs.”

Source Israel21c

Israel gets award for innovative LGBT campaign

Israel's Tourism Ministry has been named the winner in an Expedia competition for innovative campaigns aimed at the LGBT community, a statement by the ministry said on Saturday. The prize was presented by Expedia, one of the leading online reservation sites in the world, to representatives from the Israel Tourism Ministry at the world's largest travel trade fair in Berlin.

According to the statement, Israel's Tourism Ministry worked with Expedia Media Solutions to make Tel Aviv an LGBT destination for clients from the UK and Italy. Expedia then created 140 exclusive deals aimed at that particular audience followed it up with strong campaigns aimed at promoting other Israeli destinations.

The campaign led to an increase in all target markets, including a 23 percent increase from clients in the UK. Israeli society is gay friendly, at least in the Tel Aviv area, and some of the legislation and precedent-setting court rulings on gay rights are groundbreaking. But the progress and prominence of the Israeli LGTB community runs counter to the religious underpinnings of Israeli society and clashes continuously with the dramatic march forward of LGBT rights in the West.

Unlike other major cities, Tel Aviv embraces Airbnb

Earlier this week at DLD Tel Aviv, the city of Tel Aviv and Airbnb announced a partnership to create a guide to the city that includes layers of interactive content.

Airbnb, which connects travelers with hosts in cities around the world, said in an announcement this week that it is the company’s first partnership with a municipality on a city guide.

The company has already produced guides to 22 other cities but in direct partnering with hosts. The guide of Tel Aviv will include maps, custom photography and an editorial on local things to see and do, as well as tips from Airbnb hosts about local businesses. “Tel Aviv is comprised of small, fascinating neighborhoods that will be showcased through this initiative,” said Hila Oren, CEO and founder of Tel Aviv Global, a company started by the Tel Aviv-Yafo Mayor’s Office dedicated to elevating the city’s global positioning.

What is unusual about this project is the active involvement of the municipality. While other major cities such as San Francisco, Paris and Barcelona have been resisting the amazing growth of the new sharing platform, Tel Aviv is setting itself apart by embracing change.

Ayalon roofing project one step closer to reality

The Tel Aviv Local Building and Building Commission just approved another grandiose plan to roof over one of the busiest roads in Israel - the Ayalon Highway. The project will cost an estimated NIS 2 billion. It should be kept in mind that the Local Planning and Building Commission's approval is only a recommendation to the District Planning and Building Commission, which is scheduled to discuss the matter. The plan has been on the agenda for many years, but has never before reached such an advanced stage. The approved plan is only a plan in principle aimed at establishing that the area is zoned for planning. At a later stage, both the Local and District Planning and Building Commissions will also have to approve detailed plans.

The Ayalon roofing project, which covers 240 dunam (60 acres), is aimed at creating an open public area above the existing road and railway tracks. According to the plan, the area slated for roofing stretches from the Central Railway Station and Arvei Nahal St. to just after the Hashalom Interchange and Yehudit Blvd. Under the plan, an area for leisure, bicycle and footpaths paths, green spaces, cafes, and supportive commercial activity will be opened above the noisy highway. The idea underlying the plan is to devise a creative solution for the shortage of public land in the city center that will unite urban tapestries and improve the environment by reducing the burdensome air and noise pollution. The project conforms to the deposited outline plan for the city, which includes roofing over the Ayalon.

Israeli startup scene on a roll

According to a recently published report from IVC Research Center, Israel’s leading research group on the country’s high tech companies and venture capital investment, Israel’s first quarter this year was the second most successful quarter for high tech fundraising in a decade, 48% higher than Q1 of 2014 and more than twice what was raised in Q1 of 2013. What’s more, it was only 10% less than the decade’s most successful quarter for high tech fundraising: Q4 of 2014.

In the last few years, Israeli internet startups such as Waze and Wix have been all the rage, and that trend is not abating any time soon: With $343 million raised, the country’s Internet sector experienced its most successful fundraising quarter ever in Q1. According to Koby Simana, CEO of IVC Research Center, the high funding rounds of Taboola ($117 million) and Quixey ($60 million) largely contributed to this quarter’s success, as well as the maturation of the sector, with investors willing to raise larger average rounds. In a statement, he explained, “Up to a year ago we were accustomed to seeing average financing rounds of $3 million to $4 million, in the Internet sector.

Tel Aviv voted World's 3rd best place for Tech Business

Tel Aviv is the third best place in the world for technology business, according to a new report by property consultants Savills. Austin took the top spot, followed by San Francisco. Savills surveyed 12 global cities with strong tech environments. The scores were measured according to five metrics: business environment, tech environment, quality of life, talent pool and property affordability. New York, Stockholm and London came fourth, fifth and sixth respectively in the overall ranking.

Interestingly, what has prevented Tel Aviv from reaching the top spot is a low score in quality of life. Surely something that should be easy to fix for a city sitting on the Mediterranean seaside!

Tel Aviv municipality seeks to attract foreign start-ups

Israel earned the title of Start-Up Nation long ago, but most of the technology companies are concentrated in the Tel Aviv area. The Tel Aviv municipal authorities have branded the city accordingly, and have recently begun trying to leverage this abroad as well. The Tel Aviv municipality is not satisfied with 1,515 high tech companies that employ 43,000 workers, and is trying to attract more companies and entrepreneurs from abroad to come to Tel Aviv to enrich the local industry.

In recent months, Global City, a Tel Aviv municipality subsidiary, launched a pilot under which it is giving incentive packages to entrepreneurs from abroad, which include complimentary accommodations for a week or two, a free workspace for three months in a start-up complex (such as a library, or Atidim 7, or other municipal-owned building), and professional support and consulting. The companies also receive legal advice, accounting help, and assistance dealing with the Israeli Corporations Authority, and other entities.