From the demo day of the last cycle in the program. (Photo: 50:50 Startups)
I came to the 50:50 Startups program almost by accident.
After a long period of closures, I received an invitation to participate in an entrepreneurial hackathon for Jews and Arabs at the JVP house, a short walk from my house.
I didn't come with a specific idea and my main motivation was simple: to get out of the house and see people, after months at home.
During the event we divided into teams, brainstormed, formulated ideas and built presentations, which were presented to the panel of judges at the end of the evening.
Among the participants was the madrasa association, which has already taught over 70,000 Israelis to speak Arabic and even took part in the production of the new series by Sayed Kashua, the season of the same name, and the inn project, which hosts cultural and leisure events in Jerusalem.
At the end of the event, it was the fresh and unstructured idea of me and Yosef, a young man from East Jerusalem who later became my partner, that won first place.
We didn't really know what to do with this achievement, so to maintain the momentum, we were recommended to join the 50:50 Startups accelerator and the rest, as they say, is history.
During the eight months of the program, we had the privilege of working with a panel of super professional and dedicated mentors who are making a difference in the high-tech worlds in Israel and the world, including Inbal Sheinfeld, Reuven Olmansky, Raz Becher, Yana Schechterman, and many more who helped us voluntarily to carry out market research and thorough planning of the project, and even We were awarded initial funding.
All of this is fully subsidized by the association.
Ahead of the opening of the next cycle of the program, which is being held for the first time this year in collaboration with Tel Aviv University's Jump TAU program, I sat down to talk with Amir Grinstein, researcher and lecturer in marketing at Northeastern University in Boston and one of the founders of 50:50 Startups, and with Yair Sakov, founder and head of the entrepreneurship center at the university Tel Aviv, to hear about the conceptual background for the program and the new collaboration.
How did you even come up with this?
Amir recalls: "It all started with a post on LinkedIn that led to a phone call from a man who later became my partner, Eran Heyman from New Jersey. He wanted to find a way to combine the high-tech world that he knows well with the ability to create a positive social impact on the Israeli-Palestinian reality. The idea that floated in the conversation was to do something that no one had done before: to use entrepreneurship as a platform for creating involvement, bringing hearts together and a stronger economy.
What turned me on personally, even before I met Eran, was the attempt to create equal partnerships between Jews and Arabs and help them build, grow and progress in an equal manner. Where the desire burned to take knowledge from the worlds of technology and leverage it for impact and entrepreneurship, I too, as a researcher and lecturer in the fields of marketing, wanted to get out of the ivory tower and do something that would make the world a better place."
Today, 50:50 Startups is an association managed by a group of Israelis, Palestinians, Americans and Europeans who come from the worlds of investment, entrepreneurship and academia.
The program, which was built especially for young entrepreneurs, Jews and Arabs, was designed to fulfill three goals:
To give tools and knowledge in entrepreneurship, leadership, financing, and soft skills for startup management.
To create a social impact through building trust and partnership between entrepreneurs on both sides of the barrier.
To prove that it is possible to create an economic impact in the form of successful egalitarian startups.
Amir Grinstein, one of the founders of 50:50 Startups "The entrepreneurial journey is complex in itself, all the more so with a partner who is fundamentally different from us. Sometimes this creates conflicts, but the most successful teams are the ones that take the conflict, improve and grow from it, and solve problems in a creative way."
To date, each cycle has spawned 5-7 ventures that have successfully completed the program, of which 2-3 have continued forward even after it.
Among the ventures that the accelerator has grown: a system for managing crypto inheritances, an application for saving surplus food from businesses, and a social fitness platform for coaches and trainers.
"Even though we have not yet realized the last goal - to create profitable ventures - there are a variety of achievements that for us, as an association at the beginning of its journey, are huge. When a startup receives investment or hires employees, it is small successes that build the program's reputation."
Academic collaborations
As in previous years, this year the association continues to cooperate with Azrieli College of Engineering in Jerusalem, Microsoft Israel, Northeastern University in Boston and local bodies such as Tech2Peace.
After the first three cohorts encountered difficulties due to the corona virus, this year they were finally able to send a select group of entrepreneurs to Boston, for an intensive and valuable summer program.
The collaboration with Tel Aviv University, which takes place this year for the first time, may be the step that will improve the performance of the program in the economic sector as well.
Yair Sakov, founder and head of the entrepreneurship center at Tel Aviv University: "The JUMP TAU entrepreneurship program is a Jewish-Arab accelerator that has been running for 4 years at the university. The idea behind it is that where people work together, the branding of 'Jew' or 'Arab' loses its importance and they understand that it is possible to work together. In workplaces like hospitals this happens naturally out of necessity. In academia it exists, but in most places it remains very flat. For example, if they receive a joint task, then they simply divide the questions between them, each one answers his part and submits. There is really no joint work there.
Our goal is to create a platform that brings together Jewish and Arab entrepreneurs to come face to face and solve problems together. It is important to note that the center is non-faculty and serves the entire campus population. Establishing a start-up is exciting and attractive, but you need to know how to work together and trust each other This is the conceptual basis of the program.
This year we teamed up with 50:50Startups and thus a new program was created that combines the two programs: Jump TAU 5050. We come with similar worldviews and ideology, so the connection with them is very natural and correct.
One of the significant advantages that Amir and his team bring is the possibility not only to connect Jews and Arabs but to actually integrate them in the local and global market, travel to Boston and meet customers in the American market.
This is an unusual opportunity to be exposed to another shade in the world of entrepreneurship that you won't get anywhere else.
Social and economic impact
Yair Sakov, founder and head of the Entrepreneurship Center at Tel Aviv University, "Where people work together, the branding of 'Jew' or 'Arab' loses its importance. In workplaces like hospitals, this happens naturally out of necessity. Our goal is to create a platform that brings together Jewish and Arab entrepreneurs Come head to head and solve problems together."
"In order to measure the impact of the project, we hired an external company called Insights that analyzes the results of the program and we see amazing results," says Yair.
"Although those who come to the program usually come with a positive attitude toward the other, we were able to show a statistically positive change in the parties' perceptions of each other, an increase in willingness to work together, and an understanding of the other's narrative and intentions. We continue to check these data even months after the end of the program, and maintain Connection with the extensive network of connections created between the students.
On a business level, the program is very successful. Ventures that participated in the first cycles raised a total of 60 million dollars. Among our graduates you can find Remilk, a very successful company that produces laboratory milk, and Job 360, a company founded of two women, an Arab and an ultra-Orthodox woman, who integrates minority populations into the labor market. The latter venture won the Chivalry Award from the Peres Peace Center, an annual competition for women entrepreneurs, which helped them raise money."
Direct connection to the ecosystem
One of the outstanding advantages of the program is that it brings together young entrepreneurs from the periphery with the heart of high-tech in Israel, the US and Europe, and offers them opportunities and mentors within an ecosystem that would otherwise be closed to them. It is also one of the only programs that allows travel to study abroad at a university that excels in entrepreneurship, which serves A neutral place to work together.
"Above all, you have to remember that this is a non-profit accelerator," says Amir.
"We wrestled for a long time with the question of whether this story should be biased towards profit or impact. One of the reasons in favor of profit is that you are taken more seriously and it makes it possible to work with serious partners in the industry, but in the end we came to the understanding that meetings between Jews and Arabs for entrepreneurial purposes almost never happen, so we must produce Basic infrastructure now. We understand that it will take years for this story to become a financial success, but the justification is more social than anything else."
Registration for the integrated Jump TAU 5050 program has already begun and the association hopes to have about 30-40 entrepreneurs who will start the program as early as March.
The stages of the program Jump TAU 5050
The 8-month training program, which is entirely financed by 50:50 Startups and its partners, is made up of several stages:
The program begins with bootcamp - three days of brainstorming and ideas where the participants get to know each other and the team of facilitators.
During March-April, weekly meetings are held around the topic of IDEATION - from reviewing market trends and audiences, barriers and opportunities to formulating a solid idea with business potential.
From April to June, the second chapter of the program begins, where the entrepreneurs receive an infrastructure for entrepreneurial thinking, research, marketing, finance, and massive support from mentors from the top of the hi-tech industry, who guide them on a full volunteer basis.
The most outstanding and committed teams who show a willingness to succeed will start an intensive one-month summer program at Northeastern University (NE) in Boston, a university that is very strong in the worlds of entrepreneurship.
The grand finale of the program takes place at Demo Day, the venture presentation event that takes place in September, to which investors and stakeholders from the high-tech community in Israel and the world are invited, in the hope that they will be able to advance.
Who is the ideal candidate for you?
Amir: "The ideal candidate is someone who holds the Jewish-Arab story close to his heart and is open to getting to know the other and the different and working in diverse teams. Sometimes this comes against a very clear background of conflict, stereotypes, and prejudices. We help entrepreneurs learn to work with someone very different from them and get the best out of it.
Beyond that, the starting point must be a hunger for entrepreneurship and a drive to create from nothing, with all the implications of that. For those who want to join only because of the social element, I would say that it is less suitable. There are many programs of introductions and dialogues that contribute to the social impact, but the main figure we are looking for is the desire to take an entrepreneurial idea and move forward with it, and the meaning of course is the readiness to face endless challenges and develop personal resilience.
The entrepreneurial journey is complex in itself, all the more so with a partner who is fundamentally different from us.
On the face of it, the biggest added value that entrepreneurs can gain is building a leading team that comes from different backgrounds, with diverse abilities and a different perspective.
Sometimes it creates conflicts, but the most successful teams are the ones that take the conflict, improve and grow from it, and solve problems in a creative way."
Entrepreneurship as a bridge for communication
"People understand that cooperation with the other is complex and yet they are willing to try, whether it's because of the social side or the business opportunities," says Amir.
"For example, an Arab partner can open up markets for you that were not traditionally open to Israelis, and this is something that is very attractive to people despite the social pressure not to do it. It is also an opportunity to connect with international organizations that are interested in promoting peace and dialogue in the Middle East, despite the complexities.
In my view, the thing that warms the most The heart is that in the end, if you put the noise aside, there is a statement here from a young generation that is ready to work together for a better future. To hear the young people who enter the program talk about their vision and ideas, it's worth everything.
The current political context is not particularly optimistic, but as long as people talk and know each other and are able to work together on social and environmental problems that bother people who live here, they can promote dialogue and do great things together.
Economics and business can be a bridge that serves the community well, regardless of our side of the conflict."
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