Winners Announced MassChallenge Israel Awards Celebration held in Jerusalem City Hall with Mayor Moshe Lion, Mayor of Jerusalem
Jerusalem (September 14, 2020) – Mayor Moshe Lion, Mayor of Jerusalem and MassChallenge Israel Managing Director Yonit Serkin tonight awarded 500,000 ILS in cash prizes to five high-impact startups from the 2020 MassChallenge Israel accelerator.
Held at City Hall in Jerusalem, the 2020 MassChallenge Israel Awards Celebration brought together entrepreneurs and key partners across multiple industries. The 2020 prize winners were selected from a pool of nearly 400 applicants from 36 countries around the world. The top nine startups will all participate in a MassChallenge Israel Roadshow to New York and Boston in early 2021.
“We are proud to be an integral part of the global startup ecosystem headquartered in Jerusalem. Even while running the accelerator virtually, we were able to connect startups to key stakeholders and global partners enabling the 2020 startups to continue to grow their businesses from around the world,” said Yonit Serkin, Managing Director, MassChallenge Israel.
“MassChallenge is one of the world’s leading and most important startup accelerators,” said Mayor Moshe Lion, Mayor of Jerusalem. “MassChallenge is a catalyst for economic growth and has a significant impact on the community here in the city of Jerusalem creating thousands of jobs in the city and bridging together the best universities, hospitals and research centers. Entrepreneurs are building a better future for Jerusalem and the entire world.”
“MassChallenge’s mission – to strengthen the global innovation ecosystem by accelerating high potential start-ups across all industries – complements one of the U.S. Embassy’s priority goals: strengthening the U.S.-Israel economic relationship and supporting Israeli-Palestinian economic engagement,” said Lisa Bess Wishman, Director of the US Embassy’s American Center Jerusalem (ACJ). “The Embassy is proud to play a part and lend its support to MassChallenge. Today’s awardees innovations will make not only our countries – but our planet – be all the better for it!”
The 42 startups in the 2020 MassChallenge Israel cohort were selected from a pool of nearly 400 applicants from 36 countries around the world. Since April, the 2020 cohort has participated in over 160 workshops lead by nearly 300 Israeli and International experts and mentors.
Throughout the three-and-a-half month accelerator, the startups have also had opportunities to connect with corporate partners and investors to refine and grow their businesses. The entire 2020 MassChallenge Israel cohort now joins the MassChallenge global community – a network of alumni, experts, and partners around the world.
MASSCHALLENGE ISRAEL PRIZE WINNERS
All winners will participate in the MassChallenge Israel US Roadshow in 2021.
150K ILS Platinum Winners
Gina-Life Diagnostics (Israel): Gina-Life Diagnostics is developing a platform technology of home-use, smart diagnostic test for ovarian cancer. Our mission is to bring hope to many women who are at high risk for ovarian cancer and currently have no solution.
Levitection (Israel): Levitection is developing a breakthrough security platform with automatic screening capabilities for open public spaces.
100K ILS Gold Winners
Brevel (Israel): Brevel’s breakthrough technology unlocks the true potential of microalgae as the ultimate source of sustainable bio-based ingredients.
PainPal (Israel): PainPal is an on-demand and personalized telebehavioral health platform for people with chronic pain, aiming to transform how chronic pain is treated.
Silver Winners
Castory (Israel): Castory helps construction contractors build better, by eliminating construction errors.
DriftSense (Israel): DriftSense monitors and identifies pesticides drift, and models its dispersion, enabling growers to comply with relevant regulations, reduce costs, and maximize yield.
Paragon H2 (Israel): ParagonH2 reduces the environmental and financial costs of cleaning water, from salt or other dissolved pollutants, via a single device driven by hydrogen that cleans water while producing electricity at the same time.
Virtual Internships (United Kingdom): Virtual Internship Partners provides transformative, 21st century remote-work experiences for students with companies all over the world.
WipeFlush (Israel): WipeFlush is a Cleantech Startup, redefining wipes. We are developing an affordable and environmentally-safe wipe that is similar to standard baby wipes but disperses like toilet paper.
MassChallenge Israel Partners
Altshuler Shaham Benefits, Amazon Web Services, ARC Impact, Beta Mechanchim, Brandeis University, Combined Jewish Philanthropies, Desphande Foundation, Digital Transformation Association, ELTA Systems LTD, Fischer Behar Chen Well Orion & Co, Goodwin Procter LLP, Google for Startups, Ingram Micro, Merchant & Gould P.C., Microsoft for Startups, The Peres Center for Peace & Innovation, Poalim Hi- Tech, The Jerusalem Development Authority, The Kraft Group, The Ministry of Jerusalem, Universal Music Group, Yigal Arnon & Co.
About MassChallenge
MassChallenge is a global network of zero-equity startup accelerators. Headquartered in the United States with locations in Boston, Israel, Mexico, Rhode Island, Switzerland, and Texas, MassChallenge is committed to strengthening the global innovation ecosystem by supporting high-potential startups across all industries, from anywhere in the world. To date, more than 2,400 MassChallenge alumni have raised more than $6 billion in funding, generated more than $3.2 billion in revenue, and created more than 157,000 total jobs. Learn more about MassChallenge at masschallenge.org.