Israel: Advancing the Automotive Sector in the Fourth Industrial Revolution
By Lotan Levkowitz , Partner, Grove Ventures and Yariv Lotan, Head of Strategic Sector Development, Start-Up Nation Central
This article was originally published on Deloitte Insights (p. 16)
As manufacturing goes digital, automotive companies seeking to form strong, transformative, and reliable Industry 4.0 partnerships may do well to look to Israel for opportunities. The country has more than 240 Industry 4.0 startups — the second most in the world — with robust technical capabilities in a wide range of disciplines, including cybersecurity, operations optimization, platforms and connectivity, sensing and imaging, supply chain, maintenance, additive manufacturing, inspection, and testing. And they have access to funding opportunities, with the government committed to investing the equivalent of US$68.5 million between 2017 and 2021, and venture capitalist (VC) pumping more than US$6 billion in 2018 alone.
Many Israeli startups have major automotive companies as partners and customers, including Ford, Volkswagen, Porsche, Faurecia, and Lear Corporation. Moreover, the Israel’s innovation hub’ significant impact on the global automotive sector is showcased by well-recognized success stories such as Mobileye, bought by Intel for US$15.3 billion, and Waze, acquired by Google for more than US$1 billion.
How can automotive companies engage Israeli Startups?
- Define a precise business problem. challenges they would like to solve. Then, they can appoint a champion to lead manufacturing digital transformation and help Israeli startups develop and apply the right tech capability to the production environment.
- Map out pilot projects. Israeli startups that have brought value to multiple automotive companies globally, such as Claroty, 3DSignals, and Inspekto, started their journeys with well-defined pilot projects. It is recommended that, before driving into new alliances, companies clearly defined proof-of-value processes, on-boarding processes, and key performance indicators.
- Develop a local presence. A local partner, such as a current ecosystem player, accelerator, or VC, can help large multinational automotive companies bridge the gap between their culture and the pace and the attitude of emerging startups. For example, Porsche AG established a local entity — Porsche Digital Lab Tel Aviv — that assists it in scouting and interacting with cutting-edge Israeli startups.
In short, the Israeli Innovation valley is at the forefront of creating technologies that can allow for a safer, cleaner, and more efficient mobility experience. Companies looking to gain a competitive advantage in the rapidly evolving global automotive landscape would do well to better understand the potential benefit that Israeli startups can offer.
We would like to take this opportunity to invite you to join Start-Up Nation Central, Grove Ventures, and Deloitte in Tel Aviv, during the week of February 24–27, 2020 for the largest gathering of Industry 4.0 professionals in Israel - II4 Week 2020.
This year’s summit gathered an amazing line-up of world class speakers from domain leading players such as Schneider Electric, ABB, Siemens, Continental, AbInBev, Ford Motor Company, Nissan and Rockwell Automation.
To learn more about the II4 Week agenda and register, click here.
