IL Tech in NY“The Israeli tech ecosystem in NYC is robust and here to stay.”
IL Tech in NY
“The Israeli tech ecosystem in NYC is robust and here to stay.”
Like most cities, New York has faced challenges in recent years. Today its tech ecosystem is showing signs of resilience.
“New York City’s tech industry is thriving, and the past 12 months have seen an unprecedented influx of Israeli startups expanding to the city,” says Guy Franklin, founder of Israeli Mapped in NY. “We are actively tracking this trend and have identified 450 Israeli startups currently operating in New York, significantly contributing to the city’s dynamic growth.”
The Big Apple has long been considered a home away from home for Israeli tech enthusiasts looking to make it big in the United States. With a recognized 450 startups confirmed by the Israeli Mapped in NY, an organization that connects the Israeli tech scene to the New York ecosystem, signs show the presence in the United States remains sturdy with plenty of investment interest from VCs across the country.
About two years ago, CTech published a series of interviews with Israeli Mapped in NY from Israeli entrepreneurs based in New York City and New York investors funding Israeli startups. In the past two years, there has been a significant increase in Israeli initiatives and a surge in the motivation of high-tech talent to relocate to New York. Today, in response to the growing activity and ahead of our flagship Mind The Tech NY conference in March, CTech is relaunching the project - in collaboration with Israeli Mapped in NY - with a new series of interviews featuring New York investors discussing their work with Israeli entrepreneurs.
While business opportunities drove some people, others were influenced by political factors, such as the government's proposed legal reforms in 2023. Additionally, the security situation since October 7th and the ongoing conflict with Hezbollah has led more Israeli entrepreneurs to move their operations out of Israel.
“There is a growing interest from NYC-based venture capital firms, such as Bain Capital, Evolution, and Index, who are increasingly looking to invest in Israeli companies,” Franklin added. “The Israeli tech ecosystem in NYC is robust and here to stay.”
Among the 450 companies, cybersecurity has remained one of the largest verticals with 50 in the city. This trend closely mirrors the ecosystem in Startup Nation and Franklin confirmed that the number of Israeli founders relocating to the Big Apple is “the largest that I have seen in my whole time in New York.” Wiz, Cyera, and Axonius have all committed to offices there, as well as B2B enterprise software companies such as OpenWeb, and UVeye, as well as publicly traded firms like Taboola, Outbrain, Fiverr, Monday, and Kaltura.
According to the United States - Israel Business Alliance, New York is home to the most amount of 30 Israeli-founded Unicorns, the highest number outside of Tel Aviv (California as a state continues to have the most: 35 Unicorns are spread across multiple cities like San Francisco, Palo Alto, and San Jose.)
This makes the small island of Manhattan one of the most highly concentrated places for Israelis looking to make a splash in the startup ecosystem. In 2024, the city’s tech ecosystem continues to see interest in areas like generative AI, sustainable tech solutions, cybersecurity, and fintech.
The positive news comes amid Israel’s ongoing war at home with Hamas. While the war has posed significant challenges, Franklin maintains that the Israeli tech ecosystem’s resilience and adaptability have helped mitigate some of the negative impacts, maintaining investor confidence in the long-term potential of these startups. “We see robust support from various Israeli-related entities in New York that bolster Israeli tech in the city, including Silvertech Ventures, Arkin, 97212, Team8, JVP, Hanaco, and The Israeli Economic Mission,” he said.
“We have been as active as we’ve ever been in our 14+ year history as a firm the past year because we’ve seen a level of resiliency and commitment from our portfolio companies and new deals that is nothing short of inspiring,” added Daniel Frankenstein, Co-founder and Partner at Joule Ventures. “And it’s this resiliency that is required to be a successful entrepreneur. The war has had an impact but mostly creating a more advantageous deployment environment.”
