Wondering about the Future of Mobility? Turn to Israel and its Annual Smart Mobility Summit
Israel’s mobility industry is booming. Though only a small country with traditionally no automotive production, in the past 5 years Israel has transformed into an incredibly fertile ground for the mobility industry. Despite its roots in automotive only just taking hold, this transition is no surprise when looking at Israel’s long history in developing cybersecurity and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, both key components for connected, autonomous, shared, and electric vehicle (CASE) ecosystems.
The Smart Mobility Summit is an annual event that takes place in Tel Aviv and brings together various members from the industrial, academic, and regulatory sectors. This year, it boasted 500+ B2B meetings on site, 40+ represented countries, and 4,000+ visitors who navigated the ever-growing numbers of visitors from around the globe, Complemented by a successful conference and exhibition, this year’s Smart Mobility Summit highlighted the tech-savvy nature of the place mobility is taking hold in Israel.
Here are some thoughts and main takeaways from the conference for those who couldn’t attend this year’s event.
Fostering the Growth of Mobility Start-Ups
The summit boasted a 73-booth exhibition area, with start-ups around the world showcasing their own unique innovations for CASE technologies and mobility as a whole. Softride (SLAM and mapping solutions), Adasky (NIR sensors), Arbe (4D imaging radar), Foresight (stereo and quad-camera solutions), Guardian Optical (In-cab monitoring applications), Vayavision (perception engine) and Brodmann 17 (Deep Learning Software), all had notable contributions to make. The companies that presented this year represented only a small snapshot of the Israeli mobility industry. Since its inception 6 years ago, over 200 Israeli companies, many of them startups, have taken part in the Smart Mobility Summit, representing alternative fuels, smart mobility, electric vehicles, and other subsets of the market.
The technologies coming out of Israel are groundbreaking, with those taking part in the summit being no exception. A recent report by McKinsey & Co. shows that the backbone of the Israeli mobility industry is propped up by an innovative start-up culture, something that was certainly reflected on the show floor. Since 2010, over 40 mobility-dedicated start-up companies in Israel have been backed by new funding, not including the over 300 companies that have direct applications for the mobility ecosystem and CASE technology. All totaled, these companies have received $18.4 billion USD, with Innoviz having raised a total sum of $252 million during their Series C funding round as of June.
InnovizPro LiDAR sensor in action
Overall, the Future of Israeli Mobility is Bright
Start-ups choose Israel because of the active backing by state and local government. Investments from the Israel Export Institute, Start-Up Nation Central, and the Innovation Authority in the Smart Mobility Summit, are promising signs that the automotive industry will have a big impact on the Israeli economy.
When accounting for Israel’s rich history in AI and cybersecurity, its burgeoning mobility investor market, and impressive number of cutting-edge technology companies demonstrated at the Smart Mobility Summit, one thing is clear: the future of Israeli mobility is bright.