BOG 2017: Nadal Home: Nurturing Israel's Future Entrepreneurs

Canadian donor dedicates new innovation and entrepreneurship center
28 May 2017

From left: Kelly and Miles Nadal; TAU President Joseph Klafter; Jeff Wagman, National Chair of the Canadian Friends of Ontario and Western Canada;  Credit: Chen Galili

 

Even the setting of the ceremony hinted at raw potential. The floor that will house the Miles S. Nadal Home for Technological Innovation and Entrepreneurship is still under construction at the Joseph Meyerhoff Building. It doesn’t have windows yet, and mostly concrete is visible.

 

Yet, the rough edges of the location spoke to the very essence of the Israeli entrepreneurial spirit: daring, out-of-the-box thinking and chutzpah.

 

This spirit will undoubtedly be cultivated even more thanks to the generous support of philanthropist and TAU Governor and Honorary Doctor Miles S. Nadal, who inaugurated the Home with his wife, Kelly, during the Board of Governors annual meeting.

 

The facility will house TAU Ventures, an ambitious initiative aimed at combining all the entrepreneurial activity on campus. Once completed, it will be a buzzing one-stop shop for students to get business development advice; brainstorm with mentors and partners; work on prototypes in specially-designed labs; receive training from StarTAU, one of the largest community entrepreneurial non-profit organizations in the world; enjoy business services from Ramot, TAU’s intellectual property and technology transfer company; and more.

 

 

At the dedication ceremony, TAU President Joseph Klafter said, “This project is helping to fulfil one of the University’s highest priorities: to train the next generation of business innovators and leaders.” Prof. Klafter lauded Nadal and his enthusiasm for fulfilling this objective. “Miles loves young people. He loves to see them fulfill their potential, and he’s dedicated to making that happen. Indeed, these young people will be following in the footsteps of Miles himself, an entrepreneur in real estate and advertising who has contributed immensely to Canada’s economy.”

 

Nadal underscored his commitment to new business ventures and said, “Israel knows how to do entrepreneurship best.” TAU has proven itself capable of “creating tomorrow’s reality today” in its unrelenting pursuit of the unknown, according to Nadal. He explained that with the new Home for Technological Innovation and Entrepreneurship, he sees an opportunity to help TAU help Israel and the world.  He said he was certain that TAU Ventures would reap “incredible” results.

 

Prof. David Mendlovic, Chairman of TAU Ventures, as along with several entrepreneurs and key figures from the venture capital field in Canada and Israel, spoke at the ceremony and reinforced the great potential of a TAU innovation center.

 

Moshe Sarfaty, co-founder of Krypton Venture Capital, an Israeli who was educated in the US, said that the new Nadal center would empower young Israeli students and increase their chances of business success. He concluded that he believed the new Nadal Home would serve as impetus for his kids to stay in Israel to receive a world-class entrepreneurial education, instead of having to go abroad.

 

 

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