A business competition co-organised by Facebook and the Israeli embassy in London was launched this week, in a bid to attract top UK-based technology start-ups.

The Bizcamp competition is aimed at entrepreneurs, who are at the early-stage of starting up their business.

The winners, selected by a judging panel - which includes ambassador Daniel Taub and representatives from Facebook and Google - will be introduced to counterparts from across Europe at the networking bizcamp event in Tel Aviv in September.

Al Mackin and Tom New of Formisimo, which monitors how website visitors interact with online forums, won the 2013 competition.

Mr Mackin said: "The competition came at a key stage in my business and we left Israel feeling even more energised about my start-up but also about the tech industry in the UK.

“I don't know where our journey will eventually lead us - we're in the middle of our first funding round - but Israel, through the hard work of the Israeli embassies, will be an important part of our history."

The deadline for competition entries is on July 8. Finalists will be announced on July 11.