On March 24, at the Women Leader Summit in Tel Aviv, three women will take the stage for three minutes that could alter the direction of their ventures. The 2026 Next-Gen Women Entrepreneurship Award, sponsored by The Luzzatto Group, is more than just a pitch competition. As attorney Tamar Luzzatto describes it, "a deliberate effort to put women in the spotlight – literally.” Participants will present their companies in English to a live audience and a panel of judges. One winner will get an interview and a feature article on jpost.com. Beyond media exposure, the prize offers something arguably more strategic: expert guidance on intellectual property from The Luzzatto Group, including initial IP strategy and drafting a provisional patent application. “For us, intellectual property is not a trivial matter," says Luzzatto, Head of Business Development and Marketing at The Group. “It’s a business asset. It’s a marketing tool. It’s how you claim ownership of your innovation, and your story.”
“The annual Women Entrepreneurs Competition was born out of a deep belief that Israeli innovation cannot afford to give up half of its existing talent.” Adds Luzzatto Group CEO Dr. Esther Luzatto. “Women entrepreneurs bring broad perspective, strategic thinking, and the courage to break new ground, and we are here to ensure they also receive the stage they deserve.
The gap no one talks about
The Luzzatto Group, a fifth-generation family business founded in Italy in 1869, has spent years operating at the intersection of law, innovation, and gender equity.
About 80% of The Group’s management is female, led by CEO Dr. Ether Luzzatto. The group’s social agenda, she explains, rests on two pillars: strengthening Israel’s geographic periphery and advancing women in innovation. In the world of intellectual property, the gender imbalance is especially stark.
According to global data from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), more than 80% of inventors worldwide are men. “That statistic is not abstract,” Tamar Luzzatto says. “When women register fewer patents or IP assets in their own names, it has real business consequences. IP is leverage. It affects fundraising, partnerships, valuation. If women are underrepresented there, it creates a chain reaction.” The competition was born out of that realization. “We saw that one of the gaps isn’t a lack of ideas,” she says. “It’s that women are less likely to put themselves on stage. Less likely to take credit. Less likely to apply.”
As her work progressed, Luzzatto noticed a recurring pattern. “Men are often more comfortable stepping forward. Women tend to hesitate.” That hesitation, she believes, is one of the biggest barriers to growth. “The message I always repeat is simple: just apply. Don’t decide in advance whether you’re suitable. That’s the judges’ job. Your job is to show up.” She recounts that more than once, winners of other competitions have confided in her: “I almost didn’t submit.” “That sentence breaks my heart,” she says. “Because the first victory is pressing ‘send.’”
Who should apply?
Three start-ups will be chosen to present on stage, each having three minutes to pitch their company in English. The sectors are diverse, reflecting Israel’s innovation landscape: biotech, medtech, agtech, foodtech, fintech, energy, climate, communications, and more. Applicants need to specify their company’s age (from 0–3 years to over seven), team size (from solo founders to firms with over ten members), and funds raised so far.
While these formal criteria initiate the selection, the process goes deeper. “The first question we ask is: who is the entrepreneur?” Luzzatto states. “Who is she? What motivates her? Then we assess the idea, whether it’s innovative and whether it advances technologically or conceptually. Lastly, we consider business feasibility, can it succeed?” The judges will consider what Luzzatto calls “a blend of bold ideas and realistic potential.” “We ask ourselves: do we believe in this person?”
The winner will receive an interview and feature article on jpost.com, offering valuable visibility. But the professional IP package may prove equally transformative. “Drafting a provisional patent application, thinking through an initial IP strategy – these are not luxuries,” Luzzatto says. “They are foundational steps for growth.”
Over the years, she notes, past participants have seen ripple effects: investors reaching out after seeing a pitch, founders going on to compete – and win – elsewhere. “Sometimes this is the moment that opens the appetite,” she says. “The moment someone realizes: I belong here.” In a tech ecosystem where women are still underrepresented, sometimes dramatically so, the competition aims to be both practical and symbolic. “If we want more meaningful representation, maybe even equality,” Luzzatto says, “we have to start somewhere. And sometimes, that somewhere is three minutes on a stage.” Her final message is characteristically direct: “Don’t overthink it. Don’t self-reject. Just apply.”