With more than 600 startup companies in early stages in Tel Aviv and 1,500 in the larger metropolitan

area, the Israeli city is forging ahead with plans to become an entrepreneurial and technological hub of the Middle East. New Cities Foundation spoke to Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai about the drive to create a vibrant technology center. What short-term and long-term incentives were used to attract more startup businesses to the city? At this stage the city has expressed its vision, and we are currently leading a careful analysis in order to identify the needs and formulate the correct and optimal strategy to attract more foreign companies. The city of Tel Aviv-Yafo already has a strong and well developed startup ecosystem, which is highly attractive to foreign entrepreneurs. We deal with a fair number of emails from entrepreneurs around the world, especially Europe and Asia, who are interested in coming to Tel Aviv for a wide variety of reasons, ranging from entrepreneurs interested in connecting with the local talent and community to startups wanting to establish their companies in the city. What are the co-working spaces, which were built for entrepreneurs to help them meet different challenges for early-stage businesses? Startups are extremely high risk and fast paced. Unlike a traditional business, the early-stage startup is not always keen to enter a long-term lease on offices or to invest in office furniture. The co-working space is great solution, providing a startup with office facilities it can rent for a month or two, or a year until its ready to rent its own space. Furthermore, the co-working space provides a synergetic community, which is crucial at this stage. What was it like convincing entrepreneurs and businesses in Tel Aviv-Yafo that the initiative was more than simply a marketing drive? Within a short period after the formulation of the vision to promote the city of Tel Aviv as a global innovation hub the municipality already launched operative initiatives toward this end. In October 2011 the city hosted the DLD conference in Tel Aviv-Yafo the first conference of its kind in the city. The conference proved to be a great success with over 500 guests from abroad. During the DLD conference the city also opened The Library a center for entrepreneurship and innovation, which includes a co-working space for startups and space for technology- and innovation-related meetups and events. How have mentors helped nurture entrepreneurs in the project? Were their skills taken up by many new businesses? The Israeli high-tech industry is a relatively mature industry, having made its true global leap in the early 90s. Since then the Israeli industry has become a global leader over 50 percent of Israels export is technology, and the country has the highest number of startups and the highest VC investments per capita. As a result, the local ecosystem enjoys highly experienced and connected industry leaders who serve as mentors. Due to Tel Aviv's laid-back and non-hierarchal culture, these mentors are generally very accessible.

Do you have any more information about the Tel Aviv Yafo competition for best urban application? It seems an interesting way to foster new ideas and innovation. This summer the city will launch its Tel Aviv Applications competition. In this framework the city will make some of the city's databases accessible for programmers and developers to create new and exciting apps for the city. New York and London are mentioned as cities that have focused on tech startups. Has Tel Aviv looked to these cities for inspiration and ideas for its own plans? Each innovation hub has its own unique pros and cons, and we certainly look to other communities for inspiration as we warmly host delegations that come to us in search of the same. The Tel Aviv Yafo project is envisaged as a long-term drive to create a tech-led industry in the city. What future expectations do you have for the project? Global leaders such as Google, eBay, Microsoft, and many more all have centers in Tel Aviv because they recognized the importance of having presence in Israel and accessibility to the talent and innovational spirit. We believe that in the next five years the city of Tel Aviv will become a magnet for foreign entrepreneurs who will bring a new perspective to the industry. Tel Aviv Yafo Mayor Ron Huldai will be speaking at the New Cities Summit in Paris on Wednesday, May 16.