New York City Cyber Center in Soho reopened to lead Covid-19 recovery

Jerusalem Venture Partners (JVP) founder and chairman, Erel Margalit, led a delegation of CEOs from the fund’s portfolio companies to reopen the NYC International Cyber Center in Soho on Thursday in an effort to boost economic recovery in the city’s cyber sector.

The center was originally opened in January in partnership with the New York City Mayor’s office and the Economic Development Corporation of New York. Its aim was to cement the city’s status as a hub for cyber security and provide a base for startups and investors within New York’s ecosystem. The center was closed, however, after Covid-19 forced millions into lockdown.

As it reopens, the Cyber Center will be operating according to New York State’s Safe Work Zone standards to ensure that economic recovery does not risk the physical health of employees and entrepreneurs.

"Zoom is a wonderful tool, but in order to create real international business connections, one must be present in the world economic capital, New York,” said Erel Margalit at a small event marking the re-opening. “For the Israeli economy to prosper again, Israeli high-tech must prosper again – and our connection to New York is a critical piece of that puzzle.”

The Cyber Center hosts 28 companies, 14 of them Israeli, and focuses on business development in the north American markets. As well as cyber security companies, it also works with universities in the city including Columbia, Cornell, NYU and CUNY.

Throughout the Covid-19 crisis, JVP invested more than $200 million in companies mainly focused in cyber security.

“Our handling of the Covid-19 pandemic will be judged by how we as a society and a global economy recover, as much as how we face the medical challenges. The need to adapt to a new normal, and harness all new technologies and applications of innovations to create the best possible framework for our economic recovery must be addressed now,” Margalit said at the event.