Tech Talk: Get on the hi-tech bus

For the first time, the Pears program for global innovation is launching the “Pears Challenge 2017: Affordable Healthcare for India,” specifically for Israeli entrepreneurs.

By ARIEL SHAPIRA
ULTRA-ORTHODOX participants take a ride last week on KamaTech’s entrepreneur bus. Their trip took them to leading hi-tech entrepreneurs, investors and developers. (photo credit: COURTESY KAMATECH)
ULTRA-ORTHODOX participants take a ride last week on KamaTech’s entrepreneur bus. Their trip took them to leading hi-tech entrepreneurs, investors and developers.
(photo credit: COURTESY KAMATECH)
KamaTech’s entrepreneur bus journey is for ultra-orthodox hi-tech entrepreneurs, and is in fact a concentrated and accelerated hi-tech entrepreneurship course.
During the two days of the trip last week, the bus traveled through the important stations of Israel’s hi-tech sector: investors, incubators, accelerators, venture capital funds, select start-ups and large international companies. The journey was directed by KamaTech’s team with the professional guidance of Dr.
Nimrod Kozlovski, a senior adviser for hi-tech affairs in the Herzog Fox & Neeman law firm. In addition to the visits, the program included a series of short lectures given by leading experts: entrepreneurs, managers and investors who shared their perspectives and insights on founding successful start-ups and hi-tech companies.
The entrepreneurs visited leading companies and venture capital funds (Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Cisco, Intel, JVP, OurCrowd, Pitango, Self-Point, LeumiTech, EY and more) and met with heads of the industry.
The program was two-days long, and fifty entrepreneurs from the ultra-orthodox community took part in it.
KamaTech is a non-profit organization promoting the integration of haredim in the hi-tech industry.
The organization was founded by the ultra-orthodox entrepreneur Moshe Friedman, together with Zika Abzuk, vice president of Cisco Israel and with the support and guidance of Dr. Yossi Vardi who serves as the chairman of the advisory council.
KamaTech runs several programs for training and placing ultra-orthodox people in the hi-tech industry, together with a large coalition of companies, such as Cisco, Google, Microsoft and others, which employ thousands of ultra-orthodox men and women. KamaTech’s flagship program is the start-up accelerator, whose chairman, Prof.
Amnon Shashua, is also the founder of Mobileye. As part of the start-up program, the elected participants will receive guidance and support, which include grants, mentors, meetings with investors and a trip to New York City and San Francisco to meet leading investors.
Procter & Gamble chose Israel as innovation hub Procter & Gamble is establishing an Israeli-American innovation project which aims to connects Israeli start-ups with Fortune 500 companies.
The project “Israel-Cincinnati” invites start-ups in the fields of cyber, business intelligence, and fintech to apply. Five start-ups will be elected for the pilot, receiving full funding at the headquarters of the Fortune 500 companies in Cincinnati, Ohio. The election of the start-ups will take place during the next five weeks by the companies participating in the program together with three Israeli funds: OurCrowd, Vintage and JVP.
Procter & Gamble announced the launch of the “Israel-Cincinnati” program on Sunday, which is aimed for Israeli start-ups who have products in the fields of cyber, big-data, fintech, point of sales technologies and more. “Israel-Cincinnati” initiative works in cooperation with Kroger, the American retail food chain, General Electric, Cincinnati Hospital and Fifth Third Bank and with OurCrowd, Vintage and JVP.
One of the objectives of the initiative is to expose the Israeli startups to Procter & Gamble and other companies in Cincinnati in order to allow a platform for Israeli startups to examine their technologies in preparation for larger joint ventures.
The five start ups that will take part in the initiative will get to execute a fully funded pilot at the headquarters of participating companies.
The chosen start-ups will be announced in the following weeks.
Sigal Mendelovich and Michal Heller, the leaders of the program, said: “Sometimes it seems that Israeli start-ups get tired of countless senior executives who come to visit and then nothing comes out of it. The Israel-Cincinnati program offers an exceptional opportunity for the five start-ups to run a fully funded pilot within the largest and most fascinating corporations in the world.”
Indian market
The prestigious Pears Challenge for global innovation will be flying out Israeli entrepreneurs and aiding them in finding investors in the Indian market.
During the program, the entrepreneurs will be able to develop products that cater to critical obstacles the health industry faces in India, an industry that is worth around $280 billion. As of 2017, the field of tele-medicine is worth around $18.7b.
For the first time, the Pears program for global innovation is launching the “Pears Challenge 2017: Affordable Healthcare for India,” specifically for Israeli entrepreneurs.
This is an prestigious “Venture Builder” type of program, which aims to develop new tech companies in the health, tele-medicine and digital health industries – which will all be able to help over a billion people in India. This is the only program of its kind for entrepreneurs and startups in Israel, which specifically allows them to specialize in emerging markets.
The program’s partners include investors and hospitals in India and Israel, international incubators and accelerators in the health industry, international corporations, and leading consultants on Israel-India relations, and more.