Save the Date! The Idea Center at MDC and Tel Aviv University to Host Startup Nation Conference

Miami, Feb. 10, 2016 – The Idea Center at Miami Dade College (MDC), in collaboration with Tel Aviv University, will host the Startup Nation Conference Tuesday, May 17, at MDC’s Wolfson Campus in downtown Miami. The Startup Nation Conference is an opportunity to explore Israel’s unique tech entrepreneurial ecosystem, which has had many successes, including Waze and Wix.com. The Startup National Conference is the first to focus exclusively on the reasons for Israel’s global success.

The Startup Nation Conference was born from a recent Knight Foundation-supported exchange with Israel as part of Project Interchange, an educational institute of the American Jewish Committee. A delegation of 12 influential Miami entrepreneurs and leaders in the tech community, including Idea Center Executive Director Leandro Finol, traveled to Israel in March 2015 to learn from the country’s dynamic tech and innovation sector while sharing best practices and making connections. Since this trip, MDC’s Idea Center has taken the lead in the continuing the relationship with Tel Aviv, including hosting an Innovation Nation event featuring Oren Simanian of StarTAU last August.

“The goal of the conference is not just to learn from the Israeli model, but to build a permanent bridge between Tel Aviv and Miami’s own budding startup scene,” said Idea Center Executive Director Leandro Finol. “During my visit to Israel, I had the opportunity to interact with some of the world’s best problem solvers. Miami will benefit from discovering their methods of coming up with creative solutions and succeeding at resolving the most pervasive issues in our community.”

The Startup Nation conference and program aims to help bridge Miami tech and innovation community with that of Tel Aviv—the world’s second most successful innovation ecosystem after Silicon Valley. The conference will be open to students, local businesses, and individuals with an interest on this topic. Through this high-impact entrepreneurship and innovation conference, attendees with be energized to unleash their creativity and the business and entrepreneurial community will share knowledge and network to build the region’s innovation ecosystem.

For more information on the conference and updates on confirmed speakers, please visit www.startupnationconference.com.

This and other MDC releases are available on the web at www.mdc.edu.