Since the adoption of Israel’s Research & Development in Industry Law of 1984, Israel has bloomed into becoming the “Startup Nation” and for a very good reason: with a population of around 8.5 million, it has one of the largest number of startups per capita in the world, it attracts more venture capital than the whole of Europe put together, has more companies listed on Nasdaq outside of the U.S. and China and spends more of its GDP on R&D than anywhere else.
A critical aspect of creating a successful entrepreneurial ecosystem is its ability to narrow the gap between academic concepts and commercially viable products and technologies – through the contribution of many cooperating participants.
Among Israel’s claims to fame is its innovative technology, originating particularly from research and academia as well as the military. Those include, Iron Dome – rocket interception system, ReWalk – wearable robotic exoskeleton, enabling individuals with spinal cord injury to stand up right and walk, USB Flash Drive, PillCam – endoscopy camera capsule, Azilect – anti-Parkinson drug, and Drip Irrigation to name a few.
We are thrilled to host Yael Baratz at a sold out reception at KPMG. Yael is among Israel’s top authorities on technology licensing in general, and university licensing in particular. Yael helped establish and is the legal counsel for BioRap Technologies, which is the tech transfer company, together with T3 of the Technion, of the Rappaport Institute for Research in Biomedical Sciences, at the Technion. For over a decade, she has led the collaboration and licensing deals which have come from IP developed at the Technion Faculty of Medicine.
Yael shared from her experience with the various drivers of the tech ecosystem in Israel including from her personal dealings with them.