Israeli DefenceTech Looks to New Routes into Australia and New Zealand

H/T: https://www.jwire.com.au/israeli-defence-tech-looks-to-new-routes-into-australia-and-new-zealand/

Israeli defence technology companies are being encouraged to pursue opportunities in Australia and New Zealand through local partnerships, licensing and dual-use applications, as traditional routes into government defence procurement become increasingly difficult.The push follows a defence-tech conference in Haifa organised by HiCentre Ventures in collaboration with the New Zealand Israel Innovation Hub (NZIIH), which brought Israeli investors and technology companies together to examine opportunities in the Australian and New Zealand markets.

NZIIH Executive Director and Founder Josh Brown told JWire that growing defence expenditure in the region was creating opportunities for Israeli technology, but companies needed to rethink how they approached the market.

“It’s now clear the traditional routes for exporting security and defence technology into Australia and New Zealand such as government tenders and direct procurement, have become increasingly hard for large and small Israeli defence companies alike to break into,” Brown said.

“But that is no reason to write off the Antipodes. With substantial money flowing into the regional defence supply chain, there is real opportunity in partnering with OEMs, prime contractors and subcontractors.”

Brown said another route was for Israeli companies to work directly with local technology and product developers rather than attempting to sell complete Israeli systems.

“Companies willing to license their core technology to a local design or innovation partner — helping to develop products tailored to the Australian and New Zealand market — open up further possibilities again.”

The comments add a New Zealand perspective to growing Israeli interest in the Australasian defence market.

At the Haifa conference, HiCenter Ventures head of defence-tech Ilana Averkin urged Israeli startups to “set their sights on the Australian and New Zealand markets”, saying the countries combined substantial defence budgets with demand for technological innovation and offered an alternative to the highly competitive US procurement market.

“New Zealand and Australia are currently looking for smart, fast, and cost-effective solutions, such as software, AI, and automation, to integrate into the expensive platforms they have already purchased from the Americans, presenting major opportunities for Israeli startups,” Averkin said.

New Zealand is embarking on a significant programme of defence modernisation, while Australia is pursuing an even larger expansion of its military capabilities. The areas attracting investment include autonomous systems, uncrewed aircraft, surveillance, communications and other technologies in which Israeli companies have developed substantial expertise.

For Israeli startups, the opportunity may therefore lie less in competing to supply major weapons platforms and more in providing technologies that can be incorporated into systems supplied by larger manufacturers.

Averkin also argued that Australia and New Zealand could provide an entry point into the wider allied defence ecosystem. She said a successful pilot in either country could help Israeli companies establish themselves with defence customers in the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States.

Brown said the potential extends beyond military procurement altogether.

“The NZIIH has also identified that dual-use applications, whether in the private security sector or in entirely civilian contexts such as agriculture and sport, can unlock significant additional downstream and value-add opportunities.”

The approach reflects the broader role NZIIH has sought to play in connecting Israeli technology with New Zealand businesses. The organisation describes its activities as including business development, technology and investment scouting, and facilitating research and development collaborations and partnerships.

HiCenter Ventures has already begun applying its defence-tech strategy through an investment in NexTenna, an Israeli company developing electronically steerable flat-panel antennas for low-Earth-orbit satellite communications. Israel Defence reported that HiCentre entered defence technology only months ago and has already evaluated around 40 startups.

The emerging model suggests that Israeli companies looking south may need to think differently about what constitutes an export.

Rather than attempting simply to sell an Israeli-made defence system directly to the Australian Defence Force or New Zealand Defence Force, the opportunity may increasingly be to place Israeli intellectual property and technology inside products developed, adapted or manufactured with local partners.

For Israeli defence-tech startups facing crowded international procurement markets, Australia and New Zealand could therefore offer something more valuable than another customer: a route into regional supply chains and, potentially, the wider allied defence market.