Abigail Klein Leichman
February 19, 2018, Updated April 30, 2020

Jerusalem Venture Partners (JVP) has launched New York Play, a first-of-its-kind international startup competition focused on building bridges of innovation and entrepreneurship between New York City and Israel.

Applicants will include NYC-based startups interested in setting up an R&D center in Israel, as well as Israeli startups seeking to establish their market presence in the Big Apple.

The competition offers an opportunity to gain significant exposure in global markets, liaise with leading industry partners and receive at least $1 million investment from JVP.

The competition is open to startups in verticals including financial services, insurance, media, healthcare IT, automotive, mobility, food-tech and medical devices, and various enabling technology fields including big data, AI, cybersecurity, enterprise software, storage, cloud technologies, IoT and mobile.

JVP, which has offices and partners based in Manhattan, says there are 9,000 startups and 250,000 Israelis working in tech in Manhattan.

“We aim to leverage the competition and our New York presence to play a significant role helping boost global partnerships to create solutions that better the world and drive international business opportunities,” said Erel Margalit, JVP founder and chairman.

Yoav Tzruya, JVP Partner, said, “Our work with Israeli startups which have made their mark in New York City, such as ThetaRay, demonstrates the need for cross-cultural engagement and tells us that this is the right time for New York Play.”

Established in 1993, JVP has raised to date $1.2 billion across eight funds, and has been ranked numerous times by Preqin as one of the top 10 consistently performing VC firms worldwide.

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