TTT Press Release

Tel Aviv, Israel - November 8, 2010

On November 8, 2010, ten Israeli start-ups and one Palestinian start-up focused on mobile/ location services/ social (and fun) technologies are boarding a plane to the United States to start the first-ever tech/innovation tour to prominent university campuses across the country. During this two-week period, the group will be hopping from campus to campus to meet face-to-face with student and tech communities, present their start-ups, and discuss innovation, entrepreneurship, and current hot trends in technology.

The goal is to introduce dynamic, young, successful technological start-ups to university students, in order to get feedback from our real audience and to start generating a buzz, as well as highlight Israel is a creative energy capital of the world.

The first week of the tour will focus on East Coast campuses, including New York University, Columbia University, Yale University, University of Maryland, George Washington University, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston University, and Brandeis University. Each campus will hold an open event, organized by independent students or student organizations, and will include introductions by each start-up, background stories, and a dynamic presentation of hot current trends in technology. The group will also be lecturing at classes focused on the world of social media technology in various campuses, and will be hosted at intimate gatherings with local students and faculty.

In addition, the group will also be hosted at AOL and Plug&Play in New York City, where they will meet with groups of entrepreneurs at each company and present their own ventures. During the stop in Washington, DC, the group will meet with White House Deputy Chief Technology Officer Scott Deutchman, who will hold a discussion on advancements in technology and how the White House utilizes various forms of technology.

The project will also meet with a number of leading technology-focused websites and blogs, as well as various local and national news outlets. In addition, a camera crew will be documenting the whole project, which will be used in a documentary on the Israeli start-up community, and screened on a local network in Israel.

During the second week, the tour will be visiting campuses along the West Coast, mainly in San Francisco and Los Angeles, CA. The project will be hosted at approximately ten prominent university campuses, and will be hosted at Google, Yahoo, Facebook, and Plug&Play headquarters in San Francisco. In addition, many community events will be hosted with delegations of local entrepreneurs, who will exchange experiences and ideas with the Tel Aviv Tech Tour delegation.

The project is independently organized, coordinated, and funded. Significant financial contributions to the budget have been provided by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nixon Peabody, and American-based philanthropists.

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If you’re like more information about this topic, or to schedule an interview, please contact Nir Ofir at nir.ofir@gmail.com.

TTT Story

Less than 3 weeks ago we had moment! a great one! Nir, Yosi and Eran, 3 Israeli entrepreneurs, were sitting in a coffee place in Tel Aviv talking about their companies and ways to market their newly created products. Frustration appeared in the conversation when discussing how hard it is to expose and share a great product so far from its market. 

Yosi came out with this idea of just being there - take a trip to the US, invite other Israeli and Palestinian startups and just meet our potential users in campuses in the US. Here is what we wrote to potential partners in our trip that day:

“In November 8, 2010, 5-8 Israeli and Palestinian startups focused on mobile/location based/social (and fun) are boarding a plane to the US and starting the first ever tech/innovation tour in campuses around the country. Hotels? Forget about it. Breakfast buffet? We can’t afford it. First Class flights? It’s not our mentality. We are going to do it low tech style (well, the life of the Israeli entrepreneur is not that shiny anyhow.)

During a period of 2 weeks, the group will jump from campus to campus and meet face to face with students, faculties and tech communities to present their startups, discuss innovation and entrepreneurship and current hot tech trends. Why? because we want to launch and introduce our ventures to our real audience. We want to get the feedback from our potential users in our face and we want the media to cover this amazing tour! Oh, and if some investors stop by, its also okay :)”

Sending this email created a lot of buzz, starting a chain reaction, and today we are almost ready with a schedule for a 2 week trip. We’ll keep you posted here and would be delighted to see you on our trip.
More info coming soon.

Ciao!