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While Activa PR represents clients in many different technology spaces, we pride ourselves on our expertise in network security. With stellar results for many different corporations, we created a bit of a niche for ourselves in the security space – and we soon got the attention of a few Israeli companies that wanted to use a PR firm halfway around the world for their global initiatives.

Israel and the Middle East do get a lot of media attention in the United States, but it seems as if our view of the country and its people is pretty one-dimensional and many don’t realize just how innovative and entrepreneurial this small country really is.  In November of 2009, The Wall Street Journal and New York Times business best seller, Start-Up Nation, took a closer look at the economy of Israel and why, as a whole, the country was barely hit by the global economic recession that shook the rest of the world.

During a time where the rest of the world was reeling, how did Israel become the fastest growing entrepreneurial and innovative country in the world? According to Start-Up Nation, the answer can be found in the country’s ethos of survival and resilience – literally being able to take anything that is thrown at them. Additionally, the book talks about the leadership and management experience that all young Israeli’s possess from their mandated military service. Israelis know how to take a person’s military experience and put it to practical use in the business world. The book even says that the average 25 year-old Israeli’s capacity to manage and lead at such a young age is unmatched anywhere else in the world.  We’ve seen this first-hand, having worked closely with young Israeli technology masterminds that also possess tremendous leadership skills.

A few weeks ago, Activa PR had the opportunity to speak with Brian Rosenzweig from JANVEST Technologies, a unique network of U.S.-based Angel investors dedicated to the investment and growth of Israeli seed technology companies. We wanted to pick his brain and see what his thoughts were on why Israel, and more notably, Tel Aviv, has become such a hub of innovation.

According to Rosenzweig, the cultural factors of life in Israel play a big role in the innovative mindset. “As a country, Israel is very insular. For the past 60 years the country as a whole has had to care for itself. When we needed something, we couldn’t rely on getting it from another country, we had to invent it for ourselves. Hence, necessity became the mother of innovation. ” Rosenzweig also goes on to remind us that Israel is a capitalist society that doesn’t have an abundance of natural resources for exportation, but what Israelis have been able to export is their brain power in the form of innovation.

Over the years, Israel has spawned some of the most admired companies in network security, such as Check Point Software, and continues to be a hotbed for some of the most innovative security companies.  We’ve represented a few like Finjan (acquired by M86 Security) and DroidSecurity of Tel Aviv, which was acquired by AVG in 2010. When asked about the security industry in general, Rosenzweig attributed its strong performance to the fact that in Israel, security (both physical and virtual) is a big component of every day life.  Because of this, security has become a major contributor to the tech sector in Israel. Rosenzweig believes that security will continue to be hot, specifically information security as companies continue to move into virtualization and the cloud computing space. “We’re also seeing a lot of innovation in the way of video technologies. Content continues to be king and video is the king of content and Israel is leading the charge in these areas,” said Rosenzweig.

When we asked Rosenzweig to describe the mood one would feel sitting in a café in Tel Aviv, and what one may hear the young entrepreneurs chatting about, he said that aside from the unaffordable real estate prices, you’d hear about the lack of capital for early-stage companies. “If you are sitting in a little café – these are mostly the early stage innovators – not the owners of mid-late stage companies. These are the entrepreneurs launching early stage start-ups and putting together their proof of concepts and need $100k – 1 million in investments. Something that Janvest Technologies is trying to help them achieve.”

Another interesting point about the Israeli culture is that they openly accept immigrants. While U.S. immigration is a constant battle, Israel encourages and welcomes the growth.  It’s this growth that has helped to put Tel Aviv, and Israel on the map as a global hub of innovation.

For more information on Janvest Technologies, visit:  http://www.janvest.com/