Tech “Shark Tank” at the Aquarium
Business and Media Leaders Gather
On July 20th, business and media leaders from throughout Israel convened at the beautiful Jerusalem aquarium for a “Mix and Match” event. The aim of the event was to show leading venture capitalists and media outlets a different side of the city by hearing pitches (Shark Tank-style) from ecosystem influencers and successful entrepreneurs. The event was hosted by Open Restaurants and the Jerusalem Development Authority and marked Open Restaurant’s second year in Jerusalem.
The group had time to mingle and network, followed by an exclusive tour of the new aquarium. The business and media leaders were then exposed to a few of the innovative organizations coming out of Jerusalem.
The presentations kicked off with Hanan Brand, one of the “founding fathers” of the Jerusalem startup ecosystem. He founded what would eventually become MadeinJLM, a non-profit intended to create a startup network across the city, which transformed the ecosystem into a multi-thousand person, tight-knit community. (Blog post coming soon.)
The next speaker was Yasmin Dunsky, one of the founders of QueenB, an organization dedicated to training girls in coding and giving them the tools and confidence needed to be successful in the tech world.
Yonit Sirkin, the Managing Director of MassChallenge Israel spoke next about the efforts of the international organization to promote early-stage startup development. In Jerusalem specifically, with its network of around 800 mentors, MassChallenge has helped 155 companies advance in their endeavors, no equity taken.
An Inclusive Community
Yitzik Crombie then presented on the Bizmax business center, an entrepreneurship hub for Haredi men, who traditionally have not taken part in the hi-tech sector. The Bizmax center is changing the reality on the ground, with Haredim working at both startups and established companies in the space.
The group heard from Yael Weiss-Gadish, CEO of Bitemojo, a Jerusalem company with an app that enables users to choose and share food itineraries based on local culinary interests and specialties. It now has over 30,000 users in 11 major cities internationally.
Yonatan Caras spoke about his experience in the Jerusalem ecosystem, and he has plenty; Yonatan is the founder of five different Jerusalem startups. His most famous apps are Glide video messaging, which eventually teamed up with Apple, and Screenshop, an app that allows users to shop by taking screenshots on their smartphones. (Blog post coming soon.) Now, Yonatan is working on a new Blockchain program.
Yael Djemal from BrainQ spoke and showed the audience a video of one of the company’s success stories that enabled a woman who could not move either leg to eventually regain control of one of them. The company uses AI to interpret a “patient’s brainwaves to generate a tailored treatment protocol.”
Time to Mingle
After the speakers gave their remarks, the crowd had another chance to mingle (this time with clownfish swimming behind them.) I overheard few comments in the crowd of how impressed people were with all of the presentations and on how nice the aquarium was as an event venue. The event is a good example of how easy it is to make new connections in the Jerusalem ecosystem; people constantly made introductions to one another in a relaxed and pleasant atmosphere. It was a good way to spend a Friday morning in Jerusalem.
