Israeli companies need to expand beyond Silicon Valley, and there is no better place than the United Arab Emirates “to reach the other half of the world,” according to Jon Medved, CEO and founder of OurCrowd.
He was speaking Wednesday afternoon at the Global Investment Forum in Dubai, which was co-sponsored by The Jerusalem Post and the Khaleej Times.
“It is a gateway to billions of people who we have not been able to reach with our products and services from our start-up,” he said.
Medved said that the country – with its large port and easily accessible airports, population of more than 80% foreign workers, entrepreneurial spirit, “skill, grit and courage – they are very strong business people” and the right partners for the Jewish state.
He added that the country has low taxes and a friendly government.
“Even if you are not sensitive to the historical forces of normalization and reconciliation, it would be a great choice to be here,” Medved said.
In his presentation, the CEO highlighted the many sectors in which there is potential for collaboration between the UAE and Israel, such as logistics, mobility, fintech, edtech, foodtech, drones, energy, digital health and more.
He said this is especially true as more Israeli companies shift from B2B (business-to-business) to B2C (business-to-customer).
OurCrowd is looking for collaborations in all these areas – how to bring Israelis companies to the UAE where they can scale up and also how to bring some of the UAE’s companies to Israel.
“We want to bring our companies looking to grow there to access new markets and raise new capital,” Medved said.
The company hired a team that is already working on the ground in Abu Dhabi and said it expects to open an office in Dubai soon.
“We are here for the long run,” he said.
Written in cooperation with OurCrowd.