July 21st, 2014. San Francisco, CA – A delegation from Israel’s digital gaming industry has embarked on a tour of the U.S. and Canada, including meetings with leading companies in the field. The delegation, a joint initiative of the Israeli Ministry of Economy and the GameIS association, includes 10 Israeli digital gaming companies, which will exhibit at the gaming industry’s leading global event – Casual Connect – in San Francisco July 22nd-24th. The delegation will then visit New York City and Montreal for meetings with companies in the fields of gaming, media and entertainment. The meetings were organized by commercial attachés from the Foreign Trade Administration in the Israeli Ministry of Economy.
Among the companies taking part in the delegation: Captain Up, DAU-UP, Jelly Button Games, justAd, KIDOZ, Playful Shark Studios, SideKick, TabTale, TROPHiT, Upopa Games, Plarium, Playtika and Pacific Interactive (recently acquired). During the roadshow, the companies will meet senior executives in the gaming and media industries, from companies such as Google, Facebook, Apple, Sony, Amazon, Ubisoft and others, as well as investors and leading venture capital funds.
“This groundbreaking tour aims at creating opportunities for Israeli gaming companies in the most significant centers of the industry in North America, and perhaps the world,” said Jonathan Levy, Director of New Media in theInvest in Israel Investment Promotion Center in the Israeli Ministry of Economy. “This is a field which is gaining real momentum in recent years and employs, according to estimates, some 3,000 people in Israel. Gaming is a multi-billion dollar industry and games are the most profitable of all types of applications for smart devices and tablets. This delegation creates opportunities for ties with some 200 companies with combined revenues of hundreds of millions of dollars, and will help bolster activities in new markets worldwide.”
“Most gaming companies maintain a core presence on the West Coast – from content and media companies like Disney and Warner Brothers to big distributors like Amazon and Apple,” said Gili Ovadia, Head of the Economic and Trade Mission to the West Coast from the Foreign Trade Administration in the Israeli Ministry of Economy. “The Trade Mission to the West Coast coordinated one-on-one meetings with companies like Apple, Microsoft, Disney, Amazon, Sony and others. Apart from the meetings that will take place at Casual Connect Conference, we will also hold a reception at the event focusing on investors in the gaming industry.”
“Gaming is the ultimate meet-up of content and technology, and Israel is known for its excellence in both,” said Goldy, head of the delegation on behalf of GameIS. “There are several Israeli companies leading the fields of mobile gaming and social media gaming, with revenues of some $300 million per year. We hope to leverage our knowhow and connections as a springboard for these companies.”
“The focus in NYC will be recruiting investors relevant to the field,” said Nilli Shalev, Head of the Economic and Trade Mission to the East Coast from the Foreign Trade Administration in the Israeli Ministry of Economy. “The Israeli Economic Mission in New York will host the delegation for two days of activities, including meetings with investors and with game developers and distributors, as well as a seminar for leading figures in the industry where we will discuss the commercialization of gaming technologies.”
According to the Israeli Foreign Trade Administration, exports to the U.S. in 2013 stood at $18 billion, and imports $9 billion. Total exports to Canada in 2013 stood at $650 million and imports $600 million.
To view the catalog of the entire delegation click here.
