BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (JTA) – Buenos Aires was named the winner of the Global Entrepreneurship Congress’ Cities Challenge 2015 for expanding its entrepreneurial ecosystem following an Israeli model.
Mariano Mayer, the city’s secretary of entrepreneurship, accepted the prize on Tuesday in Milan, Italy. More than 50 cities around the world applied and were considered for the recognition.
Buenos Aires implemented the plan supporting incubators and start-ups inspired by the Israeli Start-Up Nation model. One member of the jury selecting the incubators was Shlomi Schwartzblat, CEO of the Jerusalem-based Van Leer Technology Center.
The program offers financial support, networking events and assistance in entrepreneurship to local entrepreneurs and start-ups. Universities and research and development centers also are part of the ecosystem.
Mayer and Enrique Avogadro, secretary of creative industries for Buenos Aires, flew to Tel Aviv two years ago to learn about the Israeli innovation.
“After this first contact with the Israeli entrepreneurial model, I then traveled again alone to start to work with innovators, academics and officials to study the possibility of founding a program inspired by the Israeli successful model,” Mayer told JTA.
Local entrepreneurs visited Israel to learn how to market themselves globally, and they described their experiences on the city government’s website.
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