The Sea of Galilee. Photo: Staselnik via Wikimedia Commons.

CTech – PresenTense, an Israeli organization promoting underrepresented entrepreneurs, and the Galilee Society, the Arab National Society for Health, Research and Services, are launching ScienTech, a new first-of-its-kind accelerator focusing on life science and climatech startups in accordance with the United Nations’ SDG for solving social problems.

The program is aiming to assist qualified Arab researchers breaking into the industry and transform their scientific knowledge into promising startups.

“The accelerator targets scientific researchers from the Arab society and provides tools, practices and mentorship to develop their ideas and research into life science and climatech ventures based on SDG’s blueprint. The program will help them to move from the lab into the industry and leverage their research knowledge into promising startups,” the organizations said.

Ten Arab STEM researchers will be accepted to the accelerator that will take place throughout five months and provide entrepreneurial best practices and a professional curriculum including group sessions, personal mentoring and consulting, meeting with relevant experts and exposure to leading hi-tech and health care companies. Additionally, the participants will receive consultation in raising pre-seed investments.

“The last few years have proven that the Arab society is rich in talents from the fields of STEM, with invaluable research knowledge, and this is where we come in, providing access to entrepreneurial best practices,” said PresenTense co-CEOs, Ariella Rosen and Khouloud Ayuti. “ScienTech was founded particularly for those talents with the aim to leverage the human capital and vast knowledge they bring, transforming into tomorrow’s successful startups. We are excited about the promising cooperation with the Galilee Association and the United States Embassy and are confident that 2022 will be a year of groundbreaking Arab startups.”

The accelerator is co-led by Dudy Bar, entrepreneur and strategy and business development expert, on behalf of PresenTense and Ola Baker, an entrepreneur in the field of health care, on behalf of the Galilee Society. The advisory board includes leading figures in the industry, including Prof. Ashraf Ebrik (Technion), Nimrod Gindi, Dr. Subhy Bshier (Enzymocore), Irit Israeli Kahana (AfterDox, Neomi), Prof. Iyad Khamaisi (Rambam Hospital), Dr. Shady Hasan (Chief Medical Officer, Donisi Health), and Adv. Abed Nashef (NAS Adv. Offices).

The accelerator is established with the support of the Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) of the US State Department. Scientific researchers and entrepreneurs are invited to submit applications until January 31.

“The Galilee Society has many years of experience in establishing startup companies with exits that are considered as significant success stories in Arab society,” said the Galilee Society CEO, Ahmad Sheikh Muhammad. “We have always aspired to narrow the gap between the Israeli ecosystem and Arab society and even to build an Arab ecosystem of our own in order to promote improvement and growth in the condition of Arab society. ScienTech will provide a solution for early-stage Arab scientists in the fields of life science and climatech and will provide the laboratory infrastructure in addition to the tool kit and networks required for their success.”