13 of the best auto-tech startups at Israel’s Ecomotion conference

Brian Blum

Autonomous-driving, parking, ride-sharing – Israel’s innovative auto-tech startups are thrilling the world.

The 7th annual Ecomotion conference and exhibition in Tel Aviv, June 2019. Photo: courtesy

More than 130 startups packed the Tel Aviv Exhibition center on June 11 for the main event of the seventh annual Ecomotion four-day conference. The vast majority of exhibitors are part of Israel’s burgeoning auto-tech industry, which is especially remarkable given that cars are not manufactured in Israel.

That didn’t stop Bill Ford, executive chairman of the company his great-grandfather Henry Ford started over 100 years ago, from praising Israeli ingenuity. The 62-year-old Ford was making his first visit to Israel.

“The lack of hierarchy here, I love that,” Ford said during his keynote speech. “It sparks innovation.” The automotive ecosystem in Israel, he added, is “amazing.”

Nearly 5,000 visitors from Israel and abroad attended this year’s Ecomotion.

You didn’t need to hear Ford to understand that Israel has become a world leader in everything from the sensors and cameras that power self-driving cars to the software that will find an open parking spot in a lot or on the street (no small feat in a perennially parked-up city like Tel Aviv).

Orlie Sol Dahan, executive director of Ecomotion 2019, addressing the conference. Photo: courtesy

Here are a few of the startups that impressed ISRAEL21c during a visit to Ecomotion this week.

Tel Aviv-based startup Arbe Robotics gave ISRAEL21c a test drive to show how its 4D radar will allow a self-driving car to navigate safely. Arbe’s system highlights stationary and moving objects in real time.

Arbe Robotics’ 4D radar system highlights stationary and moving objects in real time. Photo by Anna Wachspress

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