Arab Enterprise in the Start-Up Nation

A breakfast discussion with:

Gary Jacobs, Co-founder and Chair
NGT3 - Next Generation Technology

and
Nizar Mishael, CFO
NGT3 - Next Generation Technology

Increasing Arab citizen participation in Israel's mainstream economy is a strategic necessity for the State of Israel. Over the last six years, Arab citizen representation in the hi-tech workforce grew from 250 engineers to nearly 3,000, and expansion of the hi-tech companies into Arab localities is on the rise. Arab start-ups are a leading driver of the industry's expansion. A number of venture funds, incubators and accelerators have emerged to develop Arab entrepreneurship in Israel.

NGT3 - Next Generation Technology is a technological incubator co-founded by the Government's Chief Scientist Office that combines government and private sector investment to advance promising Arab start-ups, with a focus on bio and medical technologies. NGT3's impressive portfolio includes Arab biotech startups like Nurami, Metalotherapy, and Fluorinex Active—two of which are founded by women scientists.

On Thursday, May 5th, NGT3's Co-founder and Chair, Gary Jacobs, and CFO, Nizar Mishael spoke about what makes Arab start-ups a powerful vehicle for economic growth for Arab society and Israel as a whole.

About the speakers:

Gary Jacobs, Chair and Founder
Gary Jacobs founded Jacobs Investment Company, a company that participates in investment activities throughout the United States, Israel, and abroad. He serves as chairman of the board for DermTech International, Nutrinia Ltd., and Next Generation Technologies (NGT3), and is a director of GEO2 Technologies, Bio2 Technologies, Motus GI Technologies, M.S.T - Medical Surgical Technologies, and Fallbrook Technologies. Mr. Jacobs owns the Lake Elsinore Storm Professional Baseball team. Mr. Jacobs is chairman, board of trustees of High Tech High charter high schools and a board member of the HTH Graduate School of Education. He chairs the Dean's Advisory Council for the Social Sciences at University of California, San Diego. He and his wife, Jerri-Ann, created the Gary and Jerri-Ann Graduate Fellowship in Social Sciences Endowment and the Jerri-Ann and Gary Jacobs Chair in Social Sciences. They have endowed the Jerri-Ann and Gary Jacobs Teen Director position and Senior Department at the Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center, Jacobs Family Campus. Mr. Jacobs is on the boards of the Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center and Jewish Community Centers Association, and the UCSD Athletic Board, along with the UCSD Board of Overseers and UCSD Foundation Board. The Gary and Jerri-Ann Jacobs International Teen Leadership Institute (JITLI) brings together Jewish teens from San Diego and Israel and Arab teens from Israel and Gaza for a year long program studying historical and current Muslim/Jewish relations.

Nizar Mishael, CFO
NIzar Mishael is the CFO for all portfolio companies. He manages the finances of these companies with strong leadership, closely following the budget, making sure the companies receive their full government money, and ensuring they set goals and achieve what they should (and when) with their funds. He takes an active role with follow-on funding and handling complex investment transactions. It's with his capabilities that NGT3 and its portfolio companies receive the maximum support possible from the government. Nizar is a certified CPA. He holds an MBA from Tel Aviv University's Recanati program. He started with NGT in 2006.

Event co-sponsors: