Google announces $4 million support fund for Israeli AI startups amid war
Google announces $4 million support fund for Israeli AI startups amid war
The company has provided Israel with a total of $8 million in relief since the October 7 attacks. The fund aims to help maximize the success of roughly 20 Israeli startups in need of immediate funding.
Google has announced that it has established a $4 million support fund for AI startups in Israel, which will be given as complementary support to the Israeli Innovation Authority's emergency fund. The fund was set up following the outbreak of the war with Hamas as a fast-track channel for companies with a short runway.
It is understood that the fund will help maximize the success of roughly 20 Israeli startups in need of immediate funding. As well as financial support, Google will also mentor and support the selected startups, providing them with access to the company's experts in a variety of fields, such as development, strategy, marketing, and more.
The number of startups and the grant amount for each company will be impacted by the budgets requested by the companies themselves, which must operate in the fields of AI solutions and services. Budgets will be matched by the Israel Innovation Authority and will be given as a capital grant with no demands in exchange for the funding.
The grant is part of Google’s ongoing commitment to Startup Nation, which has seen a decrease in venture capital investments of about 60% compared to 2022. In the last quarter of 2023, as the war broke out, Israeli startups raised $1.3 billion - the lowest quarterly figure since 2017 - in 78 fundraising rounds.
The grant to Israeli startups is part of a new $8 million Google fund established in the wake of the war and earmarked for Israel. In October, CEO Sundar Pichai announced a $3 million donation to the Natal organization, which provides support and mental health assistance to victims of trauma on a national basis, and another $1 million in search ads for nonprofits in Israel so they can reach more people and provide information.
The Google For Startups Campus in Tel Aviv was established a decade ago to host companies and entrepreneurs at the start of their growth stage journeys.
