Lior Halabi and Ayal Stern built Israel Tech Week Miami, which drew 1,500+ attendees and 150 speakers in 2025 and ran in 2026 during the war. The deal-flow event behind the Florida-Israel corridor.
Lior Halabi and Ayal Stern co-founded Israel Tech Week Miami, an annual conference that drew more than 1,500 attendees, 150 speakers and 50 partner organizations in 2025. The 2026 edition ran April 27 to 30 at The LAB Miami in Wynwood, during the war in Israel, with nine technology verticals. The event compresses the introductions between Israeli founders and Florida capital into one week a year.
What is Israel Tech Week Miami?
Israel Tech Week Miami, known as ISRTW, is a multi-day conference that connects Israeli founders, investors and corporate leaders with U.S. and international markets. Halabi and Stern built it to give Israeli companies face-to-face access to American capital and government stakeholders. It now runs as separate vertical summits instead of a single track, according to the event's 2026 program materials.
Halabi is also co-founder of the Miami-Israel Collective, the organization behind the conference. The Collective operates year-round as the community layer between Israeli entrepreneurs and South Florida's business ecosystem.
How fast has Israel Tech Week grown?
ISRTW's 2025 debut drew more than 1,500 attendees, 150 speakers and over 50 partners from Israel, the U.S. and global markets, according to a February 2026 Business Wire announcement. The 2026 edition was expected to draw a similar crowd, including hundreds of participants traveling from Israel and a startup showcase, per GlobeNewswire.
The 2026 program expanded to nine verticals, according to Business Wire: AI and Data, PropTech and ConTech, Cybersecurity, FinTech, DefenseTech and Resilience, Climate and Energy, HealthTech and Life Sciences, SpaceTech, and Travel and Hospitality Tech. Each vertical runs its own panels, startup showcases and investor meetings.
Why did the conference run during the war?
ISRTW ran in April 2026 during the war in Israel because it had become one of the few major international platforms for Israeli founders still operating outside the country, as many other conferences were postponed or canceled, per GlobeNewswire. Halabi said the event has always been about creating opportunities for innovation to extend beyond borders.
For many attending founders, the conference offered one of the only chances that year to meet investors and partners outside Israel in person. The format is built for transactions: startup showcases, investor roundtables, private executive breakfasts and curated one-on-one meetings.
Who sponsors and speaks at Israel Tech Week?
The 2026 sponsors reflect the corridor's finance, legal and defense mix. Business Wire lists Greenberg Traurig as Platinum Sponsor for the HealthTech and SpaceTech verticals, Greenspoon Marder as Diamond Sponsor for PropTech and ConTech, Chapman and Cutler for FinTech, and Gornitzky and Co. as Israel Legal Firm Partner. GlobeNewswire adds Jefferies, Holland and Knight and Stratos Ventures.
Keynote speakers have included David Blumberg, founder of Blumberg Capital, and former Miami mayor Francis X. Suarez, per GlobeNewswire.
How does the Miami-Israel Collective support founders?
The Miami-Israel Collective connects the Florida-Israel Business Accelerator (FIBA), local venture firms such as Blumberg Capital's Miami office and Ocean Azul Partners, and Israeli founders who relocated to South Florida since 2020. Individual founders relocating is migration, and an organized conference with deal flow, investor access and government engagement is an ecosystem. The difference is whether the migration compounds or dissipates.
Where does Halabi fit in the Florida-Israel corridor?
Halabi organizes the market rather than building a product company or a development portfolio. The corridor has a developer in Michael Dezer, a data report from 5WPR, an accelerator in FIBA, and a conference in Israel Tech Week.
The corridor itself is sized in Florida-Israel Tech: 429 Companies and framed in Florida Is Israel's New American Address. The defense vertical connects to Florida-Israel Defense Tech, and a second investor event is covered in GoForIsrael Conference Debuts in Miami Beach.
Frequently asked questions about Israel Tech Week Miami
Who founded Israel Tech Week Miami?
Lior Halabi and Ayal Stern co-founded Israel Tech Week Miami as a platform connecting Israeli innovation with U.S. and international markets.
How many people attend Israel Tech Week Miami?
The 2025 edition drew more than 1,500 attendees, 150 speakers and over 50 partner organizations, according to Business Wire.
Where is Israel Tech Week Miami held?
The 2026 main hub was The LAB Miami in Wynwood, with sessions at other Miami venues during the four-day program, per Business Wire.
Which industries does the conference cover?
The 2026 program covered nine verticals: AI and Data, PropTech and ConTech, Cybersecurity, FinTech, DefenseTech and Resilience, Climate and Energy, HealthTech and Life Sciences, SpaceTech, and Travel and Hospitality Tech.
How we report: Olam stories draw on public filings, company disclosures and named sources, checked by our editors. Read our methodology · Corrections
