6 and western Europe, providing an optimal platform for scaling up in the European market. Germany has a lot of technology hubs but Berlin clearly stands out as a melting pot, being very liberal and arty but it is maturing into an economy and a hub where these ingredients are key in fueling this. This is something also learned from the Israeli scene. Furthermore, an area where Germany is a leader is in the area of ‘hidden champions.’ More than 1,500 companies are considered hidden champions - companies off the radar but leaders in their field. Close partnerships between Israeli investors and these companies could take them to the next level globally. With more start-ups per capita than any other country, Israel has seen more than 2,000 startups, 3,000 SMEs and high-tech cos, 30 high-growth enterprises, 50 large -tech companies, and 300 R&D centers founded in the last 10 years, with hundreds of start-ups founded annually by brilliant founders. Israel has a very strong high-tech ecosystem with robust pillars: extremely strong entrepreneurs; academia; the army; government support; multinationals; and incubators - and this ecosystem feeds into itself. Hanan Haviv, head of High-Tech and Corporate partner at Herzog, who was a speaker at the Restart IL conference, points out: “While there is a lot of trade activity between Israel and Germany, over the years German investment activity in Israeli technology start-ups hasn’t reflected the prominence of the German economy. However, I see a lot of potential for cooperation between German companies and Israeli technology start-ups. “Old economy” German companies are looking to gain access to innovative technology, which is ample in Israel.” Also, Germany needs to spend resources and increase expenditure on its digital transformation, finding alternative energy solutions to mitigate the energy crisis following the war in Ukraine, and on defense solutions. These are needs that Israeli technology companies can meet over the next few years, thereby tightening ties between the tech communities of the two countries, which may lead to increases in investment and M&A activity.” The typical sectors attracting interest are software and semiconductors, needed by all advanced companies. There are other sectors with companies addressing urgent priorities in healthcare and all its associated fields, the recently more pressing needs surrounding defense, as well as climate change, foodtech and sustainability. In fact, for Israeli investors and companies, one of the big attractions of Germany - where the country is a leader - is indeed renewable energy.
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