There is a renaissance in the semi industry, both globally and in Israel.

With the massive use of AI/ML, data continues to rise, both in terms of complexity and volume, which makes it impossible for the actual compute power to cope with the industry’s ever-growing needs. This has given rise to startups around the globe racing to make the next generation of tech in this space.

But with the opportunity comes the challenges. The industry has been experiencing tectonic shifts, as giants have been consolidating, cloud providers have become increasingly adept at internal innovation, 5G has increased the need for edge computing, and China has become a strong player in the industry.

The influx of startups and the shifts in the industry have generated massive opportunities, both in new markets and solutions, with global funding activity growing to a record high of $5.3 billion in 2018.

And Israel is becoming an important player in this industry. In fact, the country now ranks #3 in the world, behind only the US and China, in terms of investments in the semi domain in 2019, with 42% of the total semi investments of the US and 69% of the total investments of China. There are very few segments in which Israel is investing nearly as much as the two global superpowers.

With the recent acquisitions of Habana Labs by Intel for over $2 billion and Mellanox by NVIDIA for $6.9 billion, Israeli companies have managed to capitalize on a rising industry, and built significant know how, technology and talent.

Which is why we decided to organize a first-of-its-kind summit and gather the most important players from the semiconductor world to discuss the present and future of this rising industry.

We hosted corporate leaders, including Avigdor Willenz, President & CEO of Mellanox Eyal Waldman, CEO & Co-Founder of Annapurna Labs Billic Hrvoye, and the CEOs of Pliops, proteanTecs, Vayyar, DustPhotonics, Next Silicon and Altair.

We also got the VC perspective, as our very own Zvika Orron and Investment Director of Intel Capital Noam Kaiser presented their views on this growing sector.

If you’re doing something in the the semiconductor space, ping us – zvikao@viola.vc

Full Discussion – The Future of Datacenters

Viola Ventures Co-Founder & General Partner Shlomo Dovrat and Mellanox President & CEO Eyal Waldman discuss the future of data centers, globally and in Israel. With Israel ranking #3 in the world, behind only China and the United States, Eyal talks about how the semi industry evolved through extensive industry knowledge built over previous decades, and where it will go from here.

Full Discussion – Ideation of Semi Companies in an Era of Hyperscaler Domination

Serial Entrepreneur Avigdor Willenz and CEO & Co-Founder of Annapurna Labs Billic Hrvoye hold a fascinating discussion on what makes a successful semi company. From philosophy, architecture, and team, to the importance of finding the right customer to lead you, the two industry giants give invaluable tips for startups looking to navigate their own way in this resurgent industry.