Hindi-Hebrew great combo for global start-up ecosystem: Israeli Ambassador

Hindi and Hebrew are the most spoken languages in Silicon Valley, thus any India-Israel collaboration can create a vibrant ecosystem that will help start-ups to mushroom and thrive the world over, Israel's Ambassador to India Daniel Carmon said.

"Start-ups constitute one of the pillars in further strengthening India-Israel relations," Carmon told IANS, while announcing the Indian winners who will participate at this year's Start Tel Aviv -- a global event that brings to one platform entrepreneurs from across the world.

Quoting Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the ambassador said that in the Silicon Valley, considered the global capital for start-ups, Hindi and Hebrew are heard more than English.

On the USA's East Coast, Indians and Israelis already dominate the diamond business.

"If the people from India and Israel dominate the start-up space in Silicon Valley, why can't they meet more often in New Delhi or Tel Aviv? I think start-ups provide great opportunities for people of both the countries who share common goals and aspirations," he added.

"Proud of their history and tradition, India and Israel are two countries with a large population of young people, eager and curious to grasp the future," the ambassador said.

"Let's do it together."

Ambassador Carmon said the initiative in start-ups was just one of the pillars identified to push India-Israel relations. He identified the others as agriculture, water ecosystem, defence, homeland security, education and academia.

XLPAT Lab co-founder Komal Talwar and Advenio's Mausumi Acharyya were picked as the winners of the "Start Tel Aviv - India Finals" competition. They will join founders from 22 other countries for an intense, five-day start-up experience in Tel Aviv from September 25 to 29 this year.

"It is for the first time that the competition is focusing on women. We want to bring the women entrepreneurs to the front of the stage to take their rightful place in the start-up world," said Ditza Froim, Minister-Counsellor for Public Diplomacy at the Israeli Embassy.

Talwar's XLPAT boasts of patent and technology coverage of over 120 countries which allows users thorough and exhaustive patent searches within minutes and also generate claim charts.

Focussing in the field of computer aided diagnosis, Acharyya's Advenio is developing a software to analyse hundreds of medical images to help doctors arrive at quick decisions about a medical problems.

Start Tel Aviv is organised to help promising early-stage start-ups to meet and establish relationships with potential customers, partners and high-profile industry leaders.

(Gokul Bhagabati can be reached at gokul.b@ians.in)

--IANS

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