Israel’s Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon is shown the cutting-edge dispatch technology at new National Operations Center on Feb. 25, 2019. Photo: Magen David Adom.

CTech – A group of Israeli and multinational companies announced on Tuesday the establishment of Quantum Hub, an innovation center that was nearly a year in the making, backed by Korea’s Hyundai Group, Israel-based Tadiran and Taavura-Livnat groups, and the Netherlands based-VDL Group.

The innovation center, located in the Tel Aviv suburb of Herzliya, is planned to provide tools for growth and connectivity between select startups and established tech industry companies in the fields of automotive and mobility, industry 4.0, energy, and logistics. In a statement, the backing companies said the main value of the new hub is its ability to nourish commercial relationships for proof of concept initiatives, design partnerships, beta sites, and long-term commercial partnerships. All of the backing companies have interests in the core activities of the hub, with Hyundai focused on automotive and mobility, VDL on industry solutions, and Tadiran on the energy and air control sector.

The first program the center is launching is Quantum SPARK, a 12-week program for selected startups, who will be matched with experienced mentors and experts. The program’s mission is to discover and nurture cutting-edge startups in non-mainstream industries.

The program is built as a custom-fit plan for each startup and will provide access to the startup’s target market and potential partners, matching with relevant investors, spacious working space, and a $50K investment toward the proof of concept design.

“This is the first platform unifying such a large number of local and international industry players under one roof. I’m proud of the team we assembled, that has already been able to create dozens of collaborations between startups and corporations in just a few months,” said Amir Rosentuler, co-chairman at Quantum Hub. “Quantum SPARK is a first of its kind program aiming to take startups with an initial product into their target market. I think every aspiring entrepreneur would be thrilled to work closely with a leading CEO for three months, and this is the meaningful value we offer.”

“We’ve been promoting innovation in our group and companies for years. Having CEOs with technological, business, and operative backgrounds enables us to create efficient synergies and form collaborations at scale,” said Shay Livnat, a co-owner of Taavura Holdings.