Starting up in Ashdod: the founder's guide

About 25,000 tech professionals and founders live in the greater Ashdod and Gan Yavne area. Most still commute north every morning, which means there is experience, knowledge and connections here that do not always meet.

The municipality is advancing an innovation district at the city's southern entrance, an investment of roughly NIS 10 billion, with about 930,000 sqm for employment and 50,000 to 60,000 projected jobs. Ashdod Port's incubator, founded in 2021, focuses on logistics, cybersecurity, safety and maritime technology, and in 2022 it invested NIS 4.5 million in four startups. According to Deloitte, more than 100 companies have run proofs of concept at the port.

For startups in logistics, cyber or industrial tech, Ashdod offers real operations to test on. The full picture is in the Ashdod tech ecosystem guide.

The Ashdod Tech mentors team brings together executives, founders and senior experts from different industries. Founders can get up to 3 subsidized mentoring sessions in total, with up to 2 of them with the same mentor. Sessions take place on Zoom or in the Kivunim Center meeting room.

Choose a mentor by the field you need help with and book directly through the site. Meet the mentors

Marketing mentorsTech mentorsStartup mentors

When you need to build a product, design a brand or launch a campaign, you can work with professionals from the area. The directory lists developers, designers, marketers, startup advisors and coaches, contacted directly. See freelancers and professionals

Digital marketing and brandingDesignersSoftware developmentStartup supportCoaching

Hub Ashdod is the municipal coworking and entrepreneurship space, part of Kivunim, Ashdod Municipality's young adults center. It is home to more than 300 entrepreneurs, freelancers, startups and tech business owners, and offers shared workspace, subsidized mentoring programs, business workshops and connections to investors and customers. About Hub Ashdod

Since its launch the community has produced more than 50 content events, conferences and meetups. These are the places where founders meet mentors, partners and first customers. See community events

One example: a leadership delegation from eight Hungarian cities visited Ashdod and met the founders of Hub Ashdod and the local tech community.

Founders, CEOs and senior executives who live in Ashdod and Gan Yavne meet in Meet the Neighbor, a discreet peer forum for honest advice and cross industry learning. About Meet the Neighbor

The first step is the community WhatsApp group, where events, updates and introductions are shared. Executives and experts who want to guide founders can apply to become a mentor. Want to know more local companies? See tech companies and startups in Ashdod.