Developing competitive advantage through startups and venture capital in emerging markets: A view from Israel

Abstract

This article presents an examination of the emergence and co-evolution of startups and venture capital that led to the transformation of Israel into a Start-Up and Innovation Nation since its inception in 1948. Throughout, the co-evolution of startups and venture capital was considered a critical linkage between venture capital emergence and startup intensive cluster. The article also examined the three phased evolutionary model of 1969 to 2000. A discursive approach of related relevant literature was used. The study found out that the co-evolution of startups and venture capital, policy targeting and a network of a number of other factors as will be discussed in the three phased evolutionary model were critical to the emergence and change of the Israeli high-technology industry into a high-technology startup intensive industry. Israel has become the second largest world market for venture capital with more than 240 venture capitals since 1992. Israel has also become the lead in research and development attracting more than 270 multinational companies with more than 250 establishing research centers and employing over 108 000 in the country. The study also found that Israel leads other nations in per capita startups, engineers, scientists and technicians. This article will be critical for policy formulation and implementation especially in Emerging Markets. This article may lead to a shift in strategy in many emerging countries. This article will also help expand the academic knowledge by filling the existing gaps within the body of knowledge. Therefore, the article has academic, economic and policy value.