German media giant Axel Springer continues to seek Israeli start-ups to join its Berlin accelerator program, Plug and Play. The program, which has been active for more than a year and a half and has hosted more than 40 companies, is approaching Israeli entrepreneurs for the second time in order to help them break through and advance in the German and European markets. Axel Springer is known in Israel as the company that bought the Israeli classified ads website Yad2 from Bezeq Israeli Telecommunication Co. Ltd. (TASE: BEZQ) for $217 million.
The company is looking for start-ups in advertising, content, content systems for vehicles, targeted health services, and sharing economy initiatives. The accelerator program will continue for three months, during which the entrepreneurs who are accepted to Plug and Play will receive professional mentorship and advice, as well as connections in the German and European markets. The start-ups will further receive grant of €25,000, in exchange for 5% of the company's shares.
Applications may be submitted until January 11, and the company's website. Axel Springer representatives will arrive on January 19, to meet the candidates and to select a few companies at an event that is to take place at SOSA in Tel Aviv.
This is the second time Axel Springer is approaching the Israeli starup community, after having held a similar event in August last year, in which five companies were chosen out of nine that participated in the program. The participating start-ups were: Hopeat, Vicomi, GetJob, Emerald Medical, and Broadsay.
The event in Israel is being promoted by the Israel Trade Center in Berlin. Israel Trade Center in Berlin Director Hemdat Sagi says,"The Axel Springer accelerator brings us closer to innovative technologies and ideas coming from the start-up world, and partucularly the Israeli ones. Our ties with the group are very strong, and we create many meetings and partnerships between it and Israeli companies." Sagi will particpate in the first Ministry of Finance foreign trade conference at the Tel Aviv Hilton, alongside 40 trade attachés from around the world.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 5, 2015
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