Opening of the Bavaria Israel Partnership Accelerator

MUNICH / TEL AVIV   The Bavaria Israel Partnership Accelerator (BIPA) project will support start-up plans by Bavarian and Israeli entrepreneurs in the field of digitization in future. Bavaria's Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Franz Josef Pschierer at today's official launch: “The Bavaria Israel Partnership Accelerator is part of WERK1.Bayern, which we recently opened. The Accelerator is intended to further strengthen cooperation between Bavarian and Israeli business. Israel has an outstanding reputation as a nation of start-ups, while Bavaria is valued internationally for its technical innovation. These two partners have enormous potential, which we hope to foster in this joint project. The young entrepreneurs being trained under this initiative will play an active role in shaping business relationships between Bavaria and Israel in the future.” Within BIPA, teams of entrepreneurs from both countries develop solutions for business-related issues, such as in the fields of industry 4.0, the Internet of Things, automotive/smart mobility, health/medical technology and IT security. The students and young professionals interested in starting a business take part in a four-month programme, consisting of a workshop, a virtual acceleration phase (with virtual mentoring and the use of online collaboration tools) and a presentation of results. The participants are accompanied and supported by experienced coaches throughout the programme. Funded by the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Accelerator is a joint initiative by the Strascheg Center for Entrepreneurship (SCE), Munich University of Applied Sciences, FOM University of Applied Sciences and Israel's Tel Aviv-Yaffo Academic College with its StartHub incubator. The project is also financed by the Consulate General of the State of Israel and the State Capital Munich Department of Labour and Economic Affairs. The 2015 edition is supported by the German Federal Foreign Office, 50 Years of Diplomatic Relations Israel-Germany and the Goethe Institut, in collaboration with WERK1, 4Entrepreneurship and the media partner Munich Startup. More information at www.bip-accelerator.com.