A Home for Technology in Jerusalem

Israel has long been known as the Start-Up Nation, but most of its tech industry has been centered in Tel Aviv. In recent years, that has been changing, with more startups and tech companies locating in Jerusalem.   At the heart of Jerusalem’s transformation into an important high tech city is Margalit Startup City, just a short walk from the Inbal, next to the First Station dining, shopping and entertainment complex. With a new expansion launched during the COVID pandemic, when Israel continued to see record-breaking investments in high-tech, Margalit Startup City builds on the existing JVP quarter, where Jerusalem Venture Partners, and other anchors of the city’s startup scene, including equity investment platform OurCrowd, have their offices.   “In Jerusalem, you have the Jewish quarter, the Christian Quarter, the Armenian Quarter – this is the creative quarter,” said Erel Margalit, who founded JVP in 1993, which has funded numerous successful Israeli startups. “This is the project engulfing creativity, new technology companies, new artistic creators, a new dynamic creative quarter.”  Eventually, plans call for Margalit Startup City to include apartment buildings and retail shops, making it another center of life in Jerusalem. The area, first conceived of more than two decades ago by Margalit, is already much more than a technology park.   Today the quarter includes the Zappa live music venue, and is within walking distance of many restaurants. It is worth just wandering through the area, taking in the vibes of a growing and changing Jerusalem. Whether you have a meeting at JVP or other company in the quarter, visit the Zappa music club or dine in adjacent restaurants of First Station, you will be sharing space with some of the city’s most creative and productive residents.   The expansion will turn the quarter into an even more vibrant place, where people live, work, shop and visit.  It will also play a key role in building the future of Jerusalem, as the startup city will also have a center for social and cultural program, and work to involve the surrounding neighborhoods in building up the local economy and social fabric.   And, not but not least, it will continue to be connected to the rest of Israel’s startup ecosystem, with plans for an underground station for the high-speed train to Tel Aviv.