First came Sundar Pichai, the chief executive of Google's parent company, Alphabet. Then Apple's senior vice president for artificial intelligence, John Giannandrea, showed up.

"It's happening," TechCrunch announced on their website Sunday. "The TechCrunch team landed in Tel Aviv and we're in the starting blocks for the TechCrunch Meetup Pitch-Off in Tel Aviv on Wednesday June 22. And it's going to be an awesome event." Panels and meetings include discussions with an Israeli venture capitalist firm, a medical nanofiber technology company, a firm that deals with artificial intelligence, and another that is focused on the technology that gave the world self-driving cars, in addition to a host of others. Additionally, attendees will participate in an intimate fireside chat with Israel's ninth President, Shimon Peres.