A long line of Chinese investors trailed at the entrance of the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Shanghai to meet the Israeli startup entrepreneurs attending the GoforIsrael, initiated by Catalyst Fund and Cukierman Investment House. The entrepreneurs themselves were surprised at the huge interest.
Chinese investors’ enthusiasm for Israeli technology companies remains at its peak. More than 2800 participants at two conferences – in Shanghai and Wuhan – where the GoforIsrael Conferences were held.
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The Israeli Investment Conference was organized for the first time in 15 years outside the borders of Israel. Instead of bringing Chinese investors to Tel Aviv, they led a group of over 100 Israeli Startups and Israeli high tech companies to China.
The highlight of the conference was the meetings between Israeli entrepreneurs and hundreds of Chinese investors including Alibaba executives, Tencent, Baidu, Lenovo, and many funds, competing for their time and meetings with directors of Israeli companies.
At the Shanghai conference there were 1700 participants, including 1000 Chinese investors, 750 one-on-one meetings between Israeli companies and Chinese investors, double the number of meetings planned.
At the Conference in Wuhan, there were about 1180 participants which included over 500 Chinese investors and over 300 one-on-one meetings. The Israeli companies that appeared before the Chinese investors were well-established high-tech companies alongside young startups, all of them received tremendous interest; to name just a few of those present: Zerto, XJet, WeWork, Tufin, ReWalk, Kaminario and Mobileye.
Yoel Gat, CEO of SatixFy a satellite communication technology company said: “I participated in many conferences in my life, but it was the most impressive of all, and not just because of the number of investors, but rather the quality of investors. We met at least 10 Chinese funds, some of them very large. Throughout the event was a long line of Chinese investors who were waiting to talk to us, some investors and some potential clients that I have been trying to get in contact with for years.”
Dr. Doron Myersdorf, CEO and co-Founder of StoreDot: “I was surprised by the quantity of investors and their quality at the conference. It is very impressive that you can get so many investors, government representatives and marketing consultants that are interested in the Israeli market – partially because of the networking of the Catalyst CEL Fund. We had an excellent meeting with manufacturers of portable phones and car manufacturers. The Chinese are highly interested in the battery industry – both in production and marketing. ”
Yair Shamir, Managing Partner of the Catalyst CEL Fund noted: “The conference exceeded our expectations. At the conference in Shanghai alone we had 1700 participants. There were hundreds of face to face meetings between Israeli companies and potential investors, and we hope to see these relations continue and yield results. There were companies who had 6 to 8 follow-up meetings in one day, which significantly shortens the process and helps to advance in a shorter timeframe.”
Edouard Cukierman, the Chairman of Cukierman Investment House and Managing Partner of Catalyst added: “We are thrilled to be bringing together Israeli high-tech companies and Chinese investors to further develop and deepen the economic relations between the two countries. It is clear from the number of participants at both events, in Shanghai and in Wuhan, that there is a significant demand from Chinese investors to invest in Israeli innovation and Israeli companies are very interested to explore the potential of the vast Chinese market.”
