ABOUT

WHAT IS JNEXT?

Jnext is a joint initiative of the Ministry of Jerusalem and Heritage, the Jerusalem Development Authority, and the Jerusalem Municipality, and was established with the goal of developing and promoting entrepreneurship and the innovation ecosystem in Jerusalem. Jnext’s brief is to make the city a congenial, supportive place for start-ups on a global level. Jnext promotes these objectives by supporting platforms that create original projects and encourage independent initiatives to develop the entrepreneurial community while reinforcing cooperation between Jerusalem’s outstanding academic environment and the innovation scene. Jnext directly supports companies through every stage of their development to allow them to grow and flourish in the city. The initiative was first established in 2012 with government funding of just $20 million for the first five years. In light of the major impact Jnext’s activities and support have had, this budget has been increased to $100 million for the next five-year period.

OUR APPROACH

Jnext strives to develop and support Jerusalem’s unique entrepreneurial environment, functioning as a “one-stop shop” for the many players in the city’s innovative industries. Jnext takes a holistic approach to the development of the local ecosystem to benefit the companies working in the city.

We actively strive to identify potential opportunities and challenges that exist in the ecosystem, and through partnering with the community, we create mechanisms, infrastructures and promotional activities that support and promote continued, sustainable growth of the ecosystem.

Supporting Companies

We go the extra mile to help companies start and grow in Jerusalem by offering a range of unique economic incentives, directly assisting with specific challenges, creating valuable opportunities such as locating office space, connecting to academic institutions for talent scouting, and forging relevant connections within the industry.

Strengthening the Entrepreneurial Environment

We understand that successful companies cannot thrive in isolation, so a crucial part of Jnext’s activities involve helping to motivate the city’s entrepreneurial environment by creating, promoting and reinforcing the diverse building blocks that constitute its start-up ecosystem. Over the last few years, Jnext has supported the development of new venture-creation platforms, such as accelerators and innovation labs, as well as academic programs that provide hands-on entrepreneurial experience. In addition, countless community activities, including conferences, meetups and hackathons, have benefited from our involvement and support.

We act as a conduit for the city’s start-up ecosystem by working closely with the start-up community, a role which offers us a unique perspective in anticipating the needs and challenges for its future growth and enables us to co-create appropriate, relevant programs and activities.

MEET OUR TEAM

Itzik Ozer

Senior Director of Business Development itzik@jda.gov.il

Liron Dover

Head of Bio Jerusalem and JNext
lirond@jda.gov.il

Anat Zilberman

Head of The Academic City initiative and of The Government City initiative

Dr. Shay Fleishon

Executive Director, BioJerusalem Shay@biojerusalem.org.il

Yuval Sade

Business Analyst, Jnext Yuvals@jda.gov.il

Nadav Magnezi

Business Analyst, BioJerusalem Nadav@biojerusalem.org.il