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across the globe, including 
in the United States and 
Michigan, promoting the 
open exchange of knowledge, 
resources, and best practices 
between Israel’s bold and 
determined problem solvers 
and the industry leaders, 
multinational corporations 
and international bodies 
seeking innovative solutions 
to their complex challenges.
By comparison, Michigan, 
which has a similar 
population to that of Israel, 
showed $1.2 billion invested 
in 164 deals in 2022, the 
last year for which data is 
available from the Michigan 
Venture Capital Association.
Four Israeli startups now 
embedded in Michigan have 
led to success.

MICHIGAN SUCCESS 
STORIES
MIBA’s success stories include 
Upstream, an automotive 
cybersecurity and data 
management company with 
seven employees in Ann 
Arbor. 
 The more well-known 
Fullpath, which has one 
of three American hubs 
in Detroit, is known as a 
customer data and marketing 
automation platform, which 
works with car dealerships 
around the U.S. The 
company hit the local news 
in December 2023 when 
its AI chatbox program for 
car dealers “didn’t make the 
company famous until this 
weekend [Dec 16, 2023],” 
according to CEO Aharon 
Horwitz, after its service for 
Chevrolet of Watsonville, 
California, created buzz 
after offering high praise of 
the Ford F-150, instead of 
the home brand Chevrolet 

Silverado. 
 “We were the first 
technology company in 
automotive to introduce a 
GPT chatbot (in April 2023),” 
he told the Detroit Free Press.
UVeye hired a Michigan-
based team to manage 
a key relationship with 
Penske Automotive to pilot 
the civilian version of its 
technology, originally created 
to detect bombs and other 
explosive threats for the U.S. 
Department of Homeland 
Security. Its automatic vehicle 
inspection system is in place 
at Feldman Chevrolet to scan 
passenger cars for mechanical 
problems, dinks and dents. 
“If there’s any imperfections 
with the body of the vehicle 
and or the tires or wheels, 
it’s going to pick all that 
up,” said John Butkovich, 
the operations manager at 
Feldman Auto Group.
It’s also detected tracking 
devices and vice grips 
under vehicles, said Kristie 
Risner, UVeye OEM account 
manager. It’s a way to see 
problems for yourself before 
spending money for car 
repairs.
“It’s like an MRI for 

the vehicle,” said Kristen 
Strakalanaitis of Automotive 
News, adding that “the 
disruptive technology also 
has been installed in the GM 
Service Building at its global 
tech center [in Warren].”
James Anerson, General 
Motors’ senior VP of sales, 
told her, “It improves dealer 
service workflow.”
The technology is also used 
during the manufacturing 
process on auto assembly 
lines and in parts plants, and 
UVeye now has a partnership 
with Amazon to scan their 
delivery vehicles.
Electreon has electrified 
the first mile of road in 
America in Corktown, which 
is beta-testing the nation’s 
first EV-charging roadway in 
a “real-world environment” 
in Detroit. Fourteenth 
Street between Dalzelle and 
Marantette now is equipped 
with inductive-charging coils 
for charging electric vehicles 
on the road equipped with 
Electreon receivers.
“We’re excited to spearhead 
the development and 
deployment of America’s first 
wireless charging road,” said 
Stefan Tongur, Electreon’s 

vice president of business 
development. “Alongside 
Michigan’s automotive 
expertise, we’ll demonstrate 
how wireless charging unlocks 
widespread EV adoption, 
addressing limited range, grid 
limitations, and battery size 
and costs.”
Facilitated by MIBA’s 
efforts, “This milestone 
stands as a testament to our 
collaborative efforts with 
the State of Michigan and 
M-DOT, City of Detroit, 
Michigan Central, Ford, DTE 
and others,” Tongur said.
“Israeli companies come in 
and help us solve problems, 
but also help us realize 
that the horizon for future 
technology being integrated 
into the real world isn’t as far 
off as we think,” Trevor Pawl, 
the state of Michigan’s former 
chief mobility officer, told the 
Jewish News. “Once we saw 
other Electreon deployments 
in Sweden and in Israel, we 
knew that Electreon was a 
company that we wanted to 
work with in Michigan.” 
These projects have led 
to $7.2 million in economic 
activity in Michigan, joining 
another $5 million Israeli 
companies have contributed 
to local economic activity via 
MIBA since 2021.
“Michigan continues 
to attract innovative 
companies from Israel,” said 
Hiipakka. “Our economic 
climate represents strong 
opportunities for Israeli 
innovation, despite the 
ongoing conflict in Israel. 
“Businesses there have 
adopted the motto of ‘Israeli 
Tech, No Matter What’ and 
they continue to innovate and 
remain interested in what 
Michigan has to offer.” 

MIBA’s Portal 
to Michigan

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