The event served as a rallying point for the ecoystem’s entrepreneurs as we head into the holiday season, and tons of startup enthusiasts showed up at the event to show their support, including Jeff Bussgang!
Here are some key findings of the NEIBC’s study:
- Israeli-founded companies contributed $6 billion in direct revenue and over 6,600 jobs to the states economy in 2012.
- The employment base of Israeli-founded businesses grew five times faster than the states economy between 2009 and 2012.
- Over 200 Israeli-founded businesses called Massachusetts home in 2012.
- Israeli-founded businesses represented 2.9% of the Massachusetts GDP in 2012.
- Israeli-founded businesses secured $700 million in venture capital from 2010-2012 across 73 deals, representing over 6% of all venture capital funds raised in the state.
- These businesses returned nearly $2 billion to investors in mergers and acquisitions from 2010-2012 across 14 deals.
- Israeli alumni of Massachusetts colleges started 30% of the Israeli-founded companies in the state.
MassChallege itself pitches in with MassChallenge Israel, sourcing Israel’s best startups and helping them gain access to the MA innovation ecosystem. Our 2013 class of startups had seven Israeli Finalists, with one of them, Vecoy Nanomedicines, winning the Silver Prize at the MassChallenge Awards Ceremony.
Owner of the Patriots and founding sponsor of MassChallenge Israel, Bob Kraft, took the stage to discuss how Massachusetts has the best startup ties with Israel, catalyzing unparalleled economic growth in both sectors. MassChallenge and several other organizations in Boston have worked tirelessly to build a bridge between MA and Israel.
Truly, the future is bright for entrepreneurs in Boston, Israel, and beyond. The relationship that the Commonwealth has with Israel shows, according to Governor Patrick, “that the doors of the Commonwealth are open to the world.”
View more photos of the event on our Facebook Album!
Read more about study on the NEIBC Website:
http://www.neibc.org/neibc-study.html