QIZs Help Stimulate Jordanian Exports to the United States

May 7, 2013, category: General

QIZs Help Stimulate Jordanian Exports to the United States

In 2012, Jordan was the U.S.’s 73rd largest goods trading partner with $2.8 billion in bilateral trade in goods. Goods exports totaled $1.6 billion; Goods imports totaled $1.2 billion. The U.S. goods trade surplus with

Israel Commercial Mission, Embassy of Israel

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Israeli Hummus is winning America over

May 6, 2013, category: General

Israeli Hummus is winning America over

The Wall Street Journal reports that apparently “Hummus is conquering America”- Sabra Dipping Co., a joint venture of PepsiCo Inc. and Israel’s Strauss Group Ltd., wants to cultivate a commercial crop in Virginia to reduce its dependence on the legume’s main U.S. growing region—the Pacific Northwest—and to identify new chickpea varieties for its dips and spreads.

Hummus is becoming very popular among Americans seeking more-healthful snacks. The chickpea dip is low in fat and high in protein. Sales of “refrigerated flavored spreads”—a segment dominated by hummus—totaled $530 million at U.S. food retailers last year, up 11% from a year earlier and a 25% jump over 2010, according to market-research firm Information Resources Inc.

Read the full article here: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323798104578453174022015956.html

 

Israel Commercial Mission, Embassy of Israel

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“Israel Alley” at TechCrunch Disrupt NYC happening NOW. Solutions & pics inside! [UPDATED]

April 29, 2013, category: General

“Israel Alley” at TechCrunch Disrupt NYC happening NOW. Solutions & pics inside! [UPDATED]

 

***UPDATE! (May 1, 10:00)*** New companies added to the catalog below, and pics from last night’s USI Innovation reception.

***UPDATE (April 30, 12:44)*** TechCrunch blog covers Israel Alley startup Glide. LINK

***UPDATE! (April 30, 12:00)***  TechCrunch blog covers Israel Alley startup Stylit. LINK

***UPDATE! (April 30, 11:00)***  Madison+Mountainview tech and business blog covers Israeli startups at Day 1 of TC Disrupt! LINK

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SOLUTIONS AT A GLANCE

The following are on display in Israel Alley at TechCrunch Disrupt 2013.  For information on how you can participate in this activity, or if you would like to schedule a meeting with a company, please contact Oded at the Israel Economic Mission in NYC.

CLICK HERE for pics of ISRAEL ALLEY! [Updated]

For Investors: To invest in any of these or other Israeli technology startups, you can do so by registering for our IEM Investors Network, powered by GUST.

The companies:

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Bizzabo is the ideal event networking app designed to help event organizers communicate with attendees while giving them the best social and networking experience. Since its launch in July 2012, more than 2,000 leading conferences from around the world chose Bizzabo as their official event app.

 

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You know the story, you are working passionately on something important while listening to your music. You are almost sure someone is calling you, so you mute the volume…but apparently no one did! So you turn the volume back on, but now you’ve lost your train of thought. ClapTo is a solution for those non-stop false alarms! ClapTo is a tiny app that allows people to simply clap their hands to mute your music and get your attention. Once you’re ready, you can get back to work by the click of a button!

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DeckDAQ has an innovative Facebook platform that enable fans to collect and trade Virtual Goods of their favorite brands. Our platform powers games with many brands including: Dilbert, Elvis, Garfield, AC Milan, AS Roma and many more coming this summer. We are looking for additional brands and strategic partners to help us expand. Offices in New York City and Tel Aviv, Israel. Contact: eric@deckdaq.com for more info.

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 eDealya allows marketers to spend their advertising budgets wisely bidding only for qualified audience that matches their marketing need. Mobile advertisers rely on the“spray and pray”method based on the lack of audience segmentation and targeting data. As a fragmented industry, mobile advertising relies on various players to provide optimization based on specific niches, but all result in low eCPMs for publishers and below average ROI for marketers. Advertisers and publishers leverage eDealya’s proprietary technology to build a comprehensive consumer profile on each individual device resulting in targeted audience segments for mobile campaigns. By leveraging our algorithms and extensive inventory, campaigns see an increased ROI.

 

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Emaze has a vision to change the way people create presentations through a simple, fully automated process that generate powerful and engaging showcases. Emaze is a revolutionary new concept to turns ideas into stunning live stories.    It is an HTML5 cross-platform cloud based web application, compatible with all computers, tablets and mobile devices. It enables users to create amazing presentations with little effort or expertise involved.

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EXP is a patented futures marketplace for consumer products.

 

 

 

 

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Glide is a video walkie talkie app that enables users to broadcast private video messages to friends. Messages are broadcast live the moment recording begins and simultaneously saved to the cloud for on-demand consumption.

 

 

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Hostr lets people host live performances in their homes and share the cost with their friends. It connects musicians, artists, actors, writers and speakers with hosts and with audience for up-close personal and intimate experiences. It helps artists make a living and get discovered without any charges.

 

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Platform Intalix connects single users in a very easy and convenient way. Intalix enables users to browse and interact with other single users that they don’t know through their mutual friend or directly. Intalix does it on all of the previously mentioned social networks: Facebook, Google+, VKONTAKTE, Orkut, Odnoklassniki and Instagram.

 

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Keepy.me is a conversation starter for families. Initially, by helping parents storing their kid’s offline work as a vehicle to engage family members who share, comment and forward short videos, we see it rapidly expanding to be the multi-generational communication center.  Founded by Offir, a serial entrepreneur who was until recently a VP of Business Development for Getty’s PicScout division. Keepy.me, is a venture that combines Offir’s background and his love for children’s creativity.  Keepy is currently bootstrapped to the point where it has a team in place, R&D in Israel, with marketing and product in NYC.

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MultiDine is a servicing platform that lets you interact through touch, learns your taste and helps you discover your favorite dishes and restaurants, inside the restaurant and on your way to one. Changing the way restaurants communicate with their customers, the restaurant staff easily increases profits and customer retention. Requiring No Integration, MultiDine maintains the traditional dining experience and enhances it fit today’s tech-culture.

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ProductStructure is like an Adserver – but for applications – dynamically providing websites with the specialized tools they need to attract and engage users. Our comprehensive front-end and back-end solution is implemented via a line of javascript and automatically serves the most effective versions of features such as login/registration, friends/followers, invitation and subscription to websites. Once in place, these features are self-optimizing so our customers can rest assured that they always have the best tools for their user while saving time and money in the process.

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Proleafic transforms enterprise collaboration and business intelligence by revealing the evolving relationships between people, projects, data, and stakeholders – automatically, to enable employees to collaborate and find knowledge faster, while providing business intelligence insights to help managers and executives to analyze employees’ activities and engagements level, and optimize their resource allocation strategies.

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Stylit offers free online personalized styling services. Users fill out a fun questionnaire and receive weekly outfit recommendations that match their style preference, size and budget. We use professional stylists in combination with high end machine learning technology to give a scalable valuable solution with high users’ engagement.

 

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TAKO converts any mobile device into a full user-friendly work station. We do this by centralizing all your apps into 1 virtual desktop thereby allowing you to run your apps from any device. TAKO then automatically adjusts the app you are running to that device in real time. TAKO also allows you to share you apps with friends, friends and colleagues.

 

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Webydo provides professional designers with a full SaaS solution for both the creation and management of cross platform business websites, without programming.  This design-centered cloud platform includes both a Design Management System and a built-in Content Management System for the website owners. This integrated system allows designers total creative freedom in designing unique websites from scratch without writing one line of code, while facilitating direct communication between designers and their clients in the ongoing management of the website.  Behind the scenes, Webydo’s innovative CODE GENERATOR automatically generates both an HTML website updated to the latest industry standards, cross all browsers & platforms and optimized for SEO, and a friendly WYSIWYG built-in CMS.

 

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Wedeeo is a truly social video application that gives you the power to co-create, mix and share video moments together with your friends and fans. Wedeeo is seamlessly integrated with Facebook and Facebook pages which allows true engagement and fun communication with your fans. It’s video together.

 

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For more info about the event and roadshow surrounding the Israeli Delegation at TechCrunch NYC this year, CLICK HERE.

CLICK HERE for pics of ISRAEL ALLEY! [Updated]

Israel Trade & Economic Office

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Israeli Companies at Houston’s Offshore Technology Conference (OTC)

April 23, 2013, category: cleantech, General, Investment

Israeli Companies at Houston’s Offshore Technology Conference (OTC)

Innovative companies will be at Houston’s Offshore Technology Conference, the premier U.S. event for offshore development including drilling, exploration, production and environmental protection.   These companies include a delegation of companies that own

Israel Trade & Economic Office

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Israel at NHS 2013

April 22, 2013, category: General

May 7, 2013 - May 9, 2013 Las Vegas, Nevada Join the Economic Mission at the National Hardware Show (NHS) in Las Vegas this May and see what Israel has to

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QIZs Boost Egyptian Exports to the U.S. – 124% Growth Since 2004

April 19, 2013, category: General

QIZs Boost Egyptian Exports to the U.S. – 124% Growth Since 2004

Egyptian exports to the United States increased dramatically since the first Qualifying Industrial Zone (QIZ) was established.  Since 2004, the year prior to the establishment of the first Egyptian QIZ, Egyptian exports totaled $1.3 billion

Israel Commercial Mission, Embassy of Israel

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Rosebud Boutique NYC: 10 years of Sabra couture in SoHo

April 8, 2013, category: General

Rosebud Boutique NYC: 10 years of Sabra couture in SoHo

“Claire Danes shops there. So does Whoopi Goldberg. In fact, there’s a veritable United Nations of customers choosing their Israeli-made frocks, scarves, jewelry and vintage Gottex swimsuits at Rosebud, a Manhattan

Israel Trade & Economic Office

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The U.S-Israel Free FTA – A Platform for Regional Economic Cooperation

April 8, 2013, category: General

The U.S-Israel Free FTA – A Platform for Regional Economic Cooperation

The U.S.–Israel Free Trade Agreement (FTA) helped lay the foundation to establish economic cooperation between Israel and two of its neighbors, Jordan and Egypt. In 1996, two years after the signing of the Israel–Jordan Peace Agreement and seventeen years after the signing of the Israel–Egypt Peace Treaty, the United States Congress established the Qualifying Industrial Zone (QIZ) initiative in order to encourage regional economic integration and promote prosperity and stability in the Middle East.

Over the next several weeks the Commercial Section of the Embassy of Israel in Washington, D.C. will run a series of small blog posts reviewing the significant role that the QIZ initiative has played in increasing exports from Egypt and Jordan to U.S. and Israel’s bilateral trading relationship with Egypt and Jordan.

 

Overview of the QIZs:

The QIZ initiative was enacted as an amendment to the legislation implementing the U.S.–Israel FTA. Under the QIZ initiative, products manufactured in factories in designated geographic zones in Jordan and Egypt are granted duty free access to the United States, provided they meet the Israeli content requirement of the rules of origin.

In November 1996, one month after Congress passed legislation to amend the U.S.–Israel FTA in order to implement the QIZ initiative, President Bill Clinton delegated his authority to the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to designate QIZs. In 1998, USTR Charlene Barshefsky designated Jordan’s Al-Hassan Industrial Estate in the northern city of Irbid as the first QIZ. In 2004, USTR Robert Zoellick designated the first QIZs in Egypt; the Greater Cairo Zone, the Alexandria Zone, and the Suez Canal Zone.

When the first QIZ was created in Jordan in 1998, Jordanian exports to the U.S. were only $16.4 million. Within 6 years exports from the QIZs peaked when they accounted for 85% of Jordan’s $1.1 billion in exports to the U.S. in 2004.

Exports from Egypt to the United States under the QIZ program have grown from about $266 million in 2005 to about $971 million in 2012. The QIZ share of Egypt’s total exports to the United States also has grown during this time period, from about 13% in 2005 and peaked with about 52% Egyptian exports in 2011.

Israel Commercial Mission, Embassy of Israel

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IsraeliMappedinNY.com launches for Israeli startup companies in NYC. Get listed today!

April 3, 2013, category: General

IsraeliMappedinNY.com launches for Israeli startup companies in NYC. Get listed today!

(Adapted from a March 6th press release by Ethan Finkelstein) Guy Franklin, a connoisseur of high-tech and startup companies, has launched a website, israelimappedinny.com, to be the home for New York area Israeli startup companies. The site is designed to provide a forum for these startups to learn about each other, lend support to one another, cooperate, advise, and share a virtual workspace. The website also promotes these Israeli start-ups to potential employees and investors.

IsraeliMappedinNY.com now features over 100 Israeli start-up companies mapped on its website. The companies that have joined include those involved with Smartphone applications, Internet advertisers, consumer support providers, and more. According to a recent report by the Center for an Urban Future, New York City is the fastest growing start-up city in the United States, and Israeli firms are playing a unique and prominent role in this environment. Founder Guy Franklin, who moved to America from Israel a year ago, stated, “shortly after getting to New York from Israel, I started recognizing there is a need for connecting Israeli entrepreneurs to each other, investors to Israeli entrepreneurs and talented workers to the right startups. Therefore I decided to create an interactive map which provides a platform for the Israeli startup community to grow and develop, and emphasizes the success of the Israeli startups in the world.”Israeli institutions and companies have been playing a key role in developing the tech industry in New York. For example, Technion (Israel Institute of Technology) has been selected along with Cornell University to build the new NYCTech campus on Roosevelt Island bringing in new and innovative talent to the City. Technion will also ensure that more Israeli companies come to the startup scene in New York.

Furthermore, companies like WIX (a web designing, Israeli startup in New York) are going public on the New York Stock Exchange. According to Forbes, more than 50 Israeli companies are on the NASDAQ. Israel has become world renowned for being the “start-up nation” as Forbes writes: “Which country boasts the highest density of startups in the world, attracts venture capital investment per capita 2 ½ times greater than the U.S., and has more companies listed on NASDAQ than the entire European continent combined? (…) …Israel is the answer to all three.”

As this Israeli innovation is being brought to New York, IsraeliMappedinNY.com hopes to highlight this success while being the new face of the New York Israeli startup scene.
For more information about this project, or if you would like your startup to be listed, please contact Ethan Finkelstein at 917-386-5388 or at ethan@israelimappedinny.com .

For more general information, please contact Josh at the Israel Economic Mission in NYC.

Israel Trade & Economic Office

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Israel and New York State sign Nano deal in Albany

March 25, 2013, category: General

Israel and New York State sign Nano deal in Albany

Agreement between the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering and the Israeli Lead Innovation and Commercialization Agency will enable billions of dollars in new investments and thousands of new high-tech jobs in New York and Israel

On Wednesday, 20 March 2013, New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to establish an international partnership between New York State and the State of Israel, through a collaboration involving the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE) and the Israeli Industry Center for Research & Development (MATIMOP), that will significantly expand business, technology, and economic relations in the burgeoning field of nanotechnology, while enabling billions of dollars in new investments and the creation of thousands of high-tech jobs in New York and Israel.  Governor Cuomo remarked:

“There is no better institution for the State of Israel to partner with than our very own College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, which continues to be the leader in the global nanotechnology industry.  I am proud that this partnership will strengthen our state’s relationship with the State of Israel, while also investing in a thriving industry that will create jobs and expand the economy right here in New York.”

Nili Shalev, Israel’s Economic Minister to North America (stationed in New York City), signed the MOU on behalf of the Jewish State.  In her address, Ms. Shalev mentioned that:

“[We] believe that the above program will help the State of New York and CNSE to [contribute to] the High-Tech industry, [by] establishing new jobs and helping Israeli innovation reach the international markets. Signing the MOU document between the State of New York and the State of Israel is an important step in launching this program, to stimulate the overseas exchange of science and engineering.”

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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieF7-KHzHjU[/youtube]The new program offers Israelis access to CNSE’s exceptional resources, services and know-how, and enhances collaboration with U.S. and international entities that operate within CNSE.  For CNSE, the program offers access to Israel’s successful academic and industrial activities in metrology and inspection, as well as Israeli Government support of the Israeli companies that will be approved to collaborate with CNSE.
The activities will be mainly in the following areas:

• Cooperation between NY Israeli metrology & inspection companies, the G450 Consortia – Exposure to a state of the art facility, participation in the ambitious plan to develop the 450 full production line, as well as potential opportunities to connect with worldwide equipment leaders.
• Matchmaking – Establish cooperative research and development activity of mutual interest to CNSE member companies and the Israeli high-tech industry. This activity will initiate lasting business relationships, closing technological gaps that might result in the establishment of existing or new businesses in the State of New York and/or in Israel .
• Establish academic cooperation – A cooperation program that might result in the development of new products and/or exchange programs of faculty, post docs, graduate and undergraduate students

For more information and news coverage about this historic program, please visit the CNSE website.   For more general information about Nanotechnology and opportunities from Israel, please contact Rebecca at the Israel Economic Mission in NYC. 

 

Israel Trade & Economic Office

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