At the “Let’s Startup” event held last week, 19 high school students from across Israel had the opportunity to present their start-up projects to top Israeli hi-tech investors. The event was the product of the Uzia Galil Startup Program, which exposes young start-up entrepreneurs to the innovation, entrepreneurship and start-up community as well as granting access to knowledge sources, funding and investment.
The Uzia Galil Startup Program seeks to mimic a full entrepreneurial process of meeting with potential investors, including the presentation of the product, vision, revenue model and business plan – all in English – as well as the possibility of receiving an initial investment opportunity.
The presentation was held to mark the end of the program’s first year of operation, and was attended by investors and representatives from Elron Ventures and Oracle Israel, Oracle for Startups, Pitango, 83NORTH, JVP, the Triventures Fund, and serial entrepreneurs such as Amos Talmor and Galia Albin, among others.
Four young entrepreneurial teams from the program were selected to attend the event and present their ideas. These four successfully passed the pitch stage of the program, with highly feasible start-ups to implement and advance the ventures into real life.
20 “teenpreneurs” presented their works at the event – 13 boys and seven girls from various sectors of Israeli society. “It is very exciting to see these teenagers, and more than that, to see that there is also a high proportion of female entrepreneurs,” said Yael Har Even, VP & COO at Oracle Israel.
The program was named after the late Uzia Galil, who is considered to be one of the founding fathers of Israeli hi-tech. After his death at age 96, it was established and is managed by Yael Chen, CEO of the Young Entrepreneurs Israel Association - JA Israel, in collaboration with Galil's widow Ella Galil, who serves as board member and honorary president; and the Elron Ventures Tech Investment Firm.
“The start-up program held in memory of Uzia Galil ended with a feeling that new limits had been crossed in innovation, creativity and teamwork by those who attended,” said Yaron Elad, managing partner and CEO of Elron Ventures, which was itself founded by Uzia Galil.
“Innovation and excellence are integral parts of Uzia's legacy, and this program represents the hope to bridge the past, present and future of Israeli innovation,” said Elad. “Through education and practical experience in the high-tech ecosystem, this program prepares teens to launch their own startups in the future. There is no doubt that the youth participating in the program will contribute to the acceleration of Israeli technology.”
The startups presented by the top students of the program:
Moosh, an AI-based search app that helps gift-givers find the perfect gift for their loved ones.
ALTZ, an application that aims to improve the quality of life of dementia patients and their families by providing a collaborative platform between patients’ families and communities, and incorporating features including digital assistants, diaries and automatic video and song players;
STARYEAM, a home-use virtual reality driving training simulator which helps decrease both the time spent learning and the amount spent on driving lessons;
ProLook, an AI-based solution that reduces electric scooter accidents by creating a personal-but-anonymous riding profile for scooter riders, based on how safely they ride.