Erel Margalit: The planet cannot survive "without a big foodtech strategy”

“If you look at the Earth from afar and you try to find a place where there’s been both a technology revolution and an agricultural revolution over the last 30 years, Israel and the Galilee are prominent,” Erel Margalit told CTech last week at the launch of the new Margalit Startup City. Located at the northern tip of the country in the city of Kiryat Shmona, Margalit hopes to turn the Galilee into a brand new epicenter of Israeli tech focused on foodtech, agtech, and sustainability.

“This region is one of the most exciting regions in the world for new crops, new strategies, alternative protein, different agro-bio strategies,” he continued. “And there’s a lot of great ideas here and we think that this can be the foodtech center in Israel and one of the five leading centers in the world.”

CTech and Calcalist were invited for the opening of the center, which is expected to join other local hubs seen in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Herzliya, and Haifa. It will bring together business and social entrepreneurs from Jewish, Arab, Druze, and secular citizens and is the fourth Margalit innovation center, following centers in New York, Be’er Sheva, and Jerusalem.

“The planet cannot hold without a big foodtech strategy,” Margalit concluded.

You can watch the entire exchange in the video above.