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How an Israeli Nobel Prize Winner Can Explain Israeli Innovation

  • Writer: axisinnovation
    axisinnovation
  • 18 hours ago
  • 2 min read

By Aaron Cohen


What does Nobel Prize–winning economist Joel Mokyr have to do with Israeli startup innovation?


A lot, actually.


Mokyr—himself Israeli—has spent his career exploring a deceptively simple question: What makes societies innovate, grow, and create outsized economic value? 


His research shows that technological progress depends not just on individual efforts of society’s best and brightest, but on three deeper ingredients:


  • Useful knowledge – the know-how that sparks new ideas.

  • Mechanical competence – the ability to turn ideas into products and solutions.

  • Institutional networks – the environments that let innovation spread, commercialize, and scale.


This final point is the bridge to Israel.


Israel is famous for its talent and creativity, but what truly sets it apart is the density of its innovation networks. Ideas here don’t sit in isolation—they move. Fast. Between startups, investors, universities, multinationals, military units, entrepreneurs, and corporate innovation teams. 


That circulation of knowledge is the exact phenomenon Mokyr describes as the driver of transformative technological growth. It’s why a country of under 10 million people produces breakthrough startups in mobility, energy transition, AI infrastructure, cybersecurity, and deep tech at a global scale. And it’s why more global corporations now see Israel not just as a source of technology—but as a strategic R&D partner.


Today, innovation doesn’t happen inside one company. It happens inside ecosystems.


Where Corporations Fit In 


Across industries, established companies are facing the same challenge: How do you keep pace when disruptive innovation is happening outside your organization?


Israeli startups are tackling problems in:


  • Industrial automation + AI

  • Robotics and sensors

  • Computer vision and edge intelligence

  • EV and off-road mobility

  • Battery tech and energy systems

  • Sustainability and carbon management


But to move these solutions from lab to market, the missing link is often collaboration with the right corporate partners.


That's where Axis comes in.


For over 10 years, Axis Innovation has helped dozens of corporations—from Ford to Repsol—identify, evaluate, and partner with startups working on their most urgent innovation needs. We start with Israeli startups but scout globally, identifying innovation and its supporting institutional networks wherever they might appear. 


This January in NYC, Axis is bringing some of the most promising Israeli growth-stage startups across mobility, energy, industrial tech, and AI to meet one-on-one with leading corporations and investors.


Our Gateway to Growth conference is designed specifically for corporate innovation, CVC, and strategy teams who want:


  • Curated dealflow mapped to their innovation priorities

  • Pre-qualified startups ready for pilots, partnerships, or investment

  • Insights into emerging Israeli trends before they hit the global radar

  • A fast, low-friction way to explore collaboration opportunities


If Mokyr is right, innovation advances when ideas move freely between the people who create them and the institutions that can scale them.


Gateway to Growth is exactly that interface.


Interested in joining us?

If your team is exploring innovation in mobility, energy, industrial AI, or deep tech and wants direct access to top growth-stage startups, we’d love to speak with you.




 
 
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