The blockchain technology ignition in the Startup Nation

(and why it is worth considering the Israeli booming startup scene)

When we started the Blockchain Israel Organization, a year ago already, we were searching for the right way to better understand and describe the way we were entering the world of blockchain technologies and the social impact we felt we could bring to the world from a 8.5 million land.

In this post you'll find what we've learned so far and more about our mission.

Good for business opportunities, good for social impact

From the start we were mindful of two things. On one hand, early adopters and tech enthusiasts make an essential contribution to the health of every community. Second, technology has the power to bring people closer to each other, but can also destruct traditional networks.

Various global influencers keep shaping the world view of blockchain technologies and decentralized systems and even at our “low” level, help us direct our focus, feed our curiosity and reinforce our vision. However, to maintain consistency and deliver quality all along the way, we’re looking to the many thinkers, leaders, and culture-makers who have crossed our path, some others keep helping us provide the best experience to the people we are encountering and create value to support the social impact we can’t but only nurture the ecosystem day after day.

The Startup Nation capital flows to growth stage

While most people are focused on where the still very blurred crypto world is going this year, we're more focused on where the crypto industry is going to be in 2025, and what will we have to undergo to get the most out of it.

• The list of Israeli companies continue its tremendous growth but we have almost 100 and counting startups in both blockchain and crypto worlds (officially).

"In proportion to its population, Israel has the largest number of startup companies in the world. In absolute terms, Israel has the largest number of startup companies than any other country in the world, except the US (3,500 companies mostly in hi-tech)."

• In 2016, Israel was ranked #2 in the world for venture capital funds, right behind the US.

The huge potential: a forward-thinking community

Israel has this huge potential by acting ahead of the curve thanks to the vibrant tech community embarking a growing number of people spending significant periods in large US/EU/AS companies and add substantial experiences to local startups.

After 6 months of events (both organized and attended including Tel Aviv, Paris and London), thousands blockchain and crypto enthusiasts reunited each week, many different panels and topics set, debates and approaches shared, we can define the Startup Nation community landscape as following:

• Blockchain and crypto startups are definitely providing a clear understanding of the economic opportunities, capabilities and limitations of their technologies.
• Traditional companies are pretty inclined to build reliable architectures and the ability to implement changes (R&D centers, accelerators and hubs are showing up).
• The attraction brought by the growing ecosystem entertains more teams with sufficient cryptographic skills to understand what is feasible and what is not, which provides a whole new level to domains as data visualization (actions, predictions), experiment design, statistics.
• Most CEOs showcase vigilance on the evolution and maturation of their chosen platforms.
• Most projects embarking blockchain technologies combine them to machine learning, artificial intelligence, data science.

My two cents to startups and companies I've met and will meet even more (globally speaking)

Startups:

• There is the bank industry, and all the rest. Most perspectives to explore — as part of the unlimited spectrum of blockchain technologies and cryptocurrencies — are niched in social impact, environment, climate change, clean tech, smart cities and big data management, IP (legal), consumption industries (gaming, lifestyle).
• You are looking for funds and considering an ICO: you can really help the global community improve their understanding on crypto governance and consensus by clearly explaining what you do (whitepaper).

It is essential to remember the mainframe, we're here to construct utility and provide sustainable solutions.

Companies interested by or adopting blockchain solutions:

• Activate key players in your ecosystem, including executives, managers, and employees that want to learn and build adoption and by the same time evaluate the value of your learning & development programs.
• Augment and reinforce current transformation with a strong tech / marketing strategy, make small acquisitions, bring investments for the long term (remember Amazon started 23 years ago), make ICOs, the smart way.
• Add curiosity, momentum and Israeli hutzpah as strong assets to challenge perspectives, accelerate market transformation (it's all about you).

More about Blockchain Israel

What to expect in 2018:

• There are very active people launching several accelerators and incubators across the country, and I just can't wait to discover and share more.
• We expect 2018 to become a break-out year for blockchain technologies, a whole new level of local initiatives and many projects being unveiled to the public.
• We see strong interest from utilities and public institutions to adopt blockchain technologies and reinvent themselves.

What we've already done in 2017:

• Blockchain technologies are literally transforming our lives and digital identities. During our first session that took place by the end of August 2017, we learned strategic implications and the challenges of implementing blockchain solutions in organizations. We've also shared our visions on new opportunities and most activities that will bring the next wave and disrupt the sharing economy, secured systems. [Link to post + slideshare deck + meetup]
• How blockchain solutions can improve the utility of Internet of Things. Our second session was dedicated to how to consider the post digital era transformation. We were looking for new ways to impact and scale up the Internet of Things, like ensure security, improve efficiency and protect government infrastructures. [Link to post + meetup]
• Blockchain: hack the hype. We explored the most sought-after technological developments and discuss about the unlimited opportunities we can get from decentralized systems like Ethereum and Hyperledger Fabric from IBM . [Review the meetup]

"We're to create opportunities for greater connections, promote good karma and a focus on empowering everything we do, all together." 

Another exciting chapter to come

Thanks to our friends from Startup Nation Central for their amazing job, Google Campus Tel Aviv, Rise Barclay Tel Aviv, KPMG Israel, AWS (Amazon Israel), IBM Hyperledger Fabric

By creating these new experiences we felt we had many arising opportunities and a great part of responsibility to provide more qualified content.

We’re still at the very early stages of our growth, and our communities remains our foundation. I hope you'll join us and share our exciting new experience.