The judges for the MassChallenge Israel venture this week selected the 10 most outstanding initiatives of the venture's third class, which ended last week in Jerusalem. MassChallenge is an international accelerator.
Most of the winners are in the medical sector. They include Air Doctor, which connect tourists who became ill or injured abroad with recommended and accessible doctors in the country where they are traveling. Genetika+ provides patients with personally adjusted drugs for treatment of depression in order to improve the chances of success and the speed of response to treatment. MonitHer has developed a home device for early diagnosis breast cancer through monthly ultrasound monitoring. The product, which is designed for women who are unsuitable for mammography, is designed to be more effective and accurate when used monthly than a personal feeling test.
In the software sector, Flatspace has developed a system that makes it possible to convert a two-dimensional architectural design into a three-dimensional model and even into virtual reality, so that the "house on paper" can be toured. In the field of art, MyPart has created a platform for crowd-sourcing of art that enables various artists such as poets and visual artists to create content that will later include works by other artists. The object is to enable beginning artists who are not yet close to the market to include their art in that of artists who are already appearing and known.
RouteValet offers efficient transportation routes combining public and private transportation. Ziroh Labs makes it possible to obtain cloud Internet services more safely.
In the sphere of clean energy, Qubeicon is developing a miniature chip as a substitute for a battery in a mobile device or wearable health monitoring device that uses light, kinetic energy, and heat energy for charging. Solutum is developing an environmentally friendly replacement for plastic.
One of the most interesting winners is ThinkZone, an impact venture that has not developed a new technology; it builds kindergartens and elementary schools from a kit, which costs much less, for children in India. The company says that in the less wealthy areas of India, many children do not go to kindergarten; they go directly to elementary schools with no previous educational training and therefore eventually drop out of the educational framework. ThinkZone's approach is to recruit local women as entrepreneurs and teachers in such a school, thereby both empowering those women and reducing inequality and enabling the children to acquire an education matching their current level.
Representatives of the 10 companies will travel to Boston and New York for a series of concentrated strategic meetings with investors, companies and potential partners relevant to their fields of activity.
During their stay in the US, the entrepreneurs will take part in another judging and assessment process - the international stage of the competition.
Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat said, "When I visited MassChallenge several years ago in Boston, I realized that this organization had to be brought to Jerusalem. During my term as mayor of Jerusalem, the number of startups in the city grew from 200 to 600 in just a few years. There is no doubt that global players such as MassChallenge play an important role the processes of change in the city."
Ministry of Jerusalem Affairs and Heritage deputy director general for planning and budget Sarit Goldstein said, "Masschallenge's activity in Jerusalem strengthens the connection between Jerusalem entrepreneurship and the global theater." Jerusalem Development Authority CEO Eyal Haimovsky added, "In recent years, MassChallenge has been a focus and home, not only to leading Israeli ventures, but also to a growing number of ventures from all over the world."
MassChallenge Israel managing director Yonit Serkin said that the outstanding companies are expressing the efforts that MassChallenge is making to diversify technological and social innovation in as broad a range of fields as possible, while encouraging entrepreneurship without regard to sector or gender.
53 entrepreneurs and companies selected from 525 candidates for the program took part in the third class of MassChallenge Israel. One third of the candidates were from over 30 countries outside of Israel, including India, Poland, Africa, the US and other countries.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on August 7, 2018
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