Technion University was welcomed to New York City at a recent event where Technion’s President Peretz Lavie and Dan Huttenlocher, dean of Cornell Tech, shared plans on the campus being constructed on Roosevelt Island to bring game-changing science and technology education from Israel to New York City. While creating an Applied Sciences graduate school in New York City, Technion simultaneously is opening a campus in southern China’s Guangdong province.
The technology world is at the forefront of an evolving trend – call it the Tech Triangle -- that links Israel with China and the U.S. for venture capital and research and development of next generation breakthroughs. It’s a new angle on advances made by this strong trio of tech hubs.
Israel and Silicon Valley have long dominated technological leadership and startup prowess, with Technion and Stanford turning out top engineering and entrepreneurial talent. China, which has an equivalent with Tsinghua, has joined this trio and is increasingly regarded as an innovator of breakthrough technologies from virtual reality to artificial intelligence. With 1.2million patents, China today ranks third worldwide for the number of patents – compared with to 2.5 million for the U.S. – and places second globally for venture capital investment, at nearly $50 billion in deals, narrowing the gap with the U.S. at $72 billion in VC investment. Israel comes in fourth globally for VC totals.
The China link is strong and growing as it angles to become an innovative economic power from a manufacturing center and a good copier of western tech brands. China’s tech titans Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent and VCs such as Horizons Ventures have been acquiring and investing in both Israeli and American technology companies and setting up R&D centers. Meanwhile, VC funds are drawing capital from China sources as incubators and accelerators funded by Chinese have opened in Israel and Silicon Valley.
The ties make sense, despite the challenges of market entry and expansion. Israeli companies need large markets for expansion. Chinese companies need access to leading edge technologies. Silicon Valley has long been a crossroads, leveraging venture capital and tech knowhow from the top hubs.
A new Silk Road is evolving, and such players as the Technion Israel Institute of Technology with its new campuses in New York City and southern China are helping to create an important Tech Triangle of innovation. Silicon Dragon explores this Tech Triangle at a VC and tech forum held at the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, February 20.
