If you ask young computer programming graduates from Israel about their dreams, chances are that nine times out of 10 they’ll say “startup.” The market goal is America, obviously, and then - global markets.
While this dream can become a reality for some hopefuls, like the founders of Waze, a more realistic place to pace out one’s high-tech dreams is in developing markets, believes Caylee Talpert, who co-directs the IsraelDev Network, a community of young entrepreneurs who are doing just that. Developing markets are looking for novel ways to conserve water, save energy, communicate, and use technology to monitor health.
Israel is positioned to leapfrog into a lead role, believes Talpert, even though few companies are focusing strictly on that market. But now IsraelDev - the Israeli Network for International Development - is here to help.
The networking and industry-pollinating engine was created out of an online social movement to get more Israeli technologies into the mainstream. Talpert and her peers saw a new niche that could cover a triple bottom line: for profits, people and the planet.
“When you look at the population demographics of Israel, we are positioned between Africa and Asia. We’ve got the expertise, so we should be there as we enter these new trends going forward.
“Our big goal, then, is just to position Israel where it should be naturally,” Talpert says.
Making an impact where Israel is able
While Talpert may not be following the same path as entrepreneurs in high-tech, her dream is that in addition to high-tech and clean-tech, development-tech will be on the watch list and investment portfolio of VCs in Israel.
And the positioning is good for mobilizing new energy. Like people following a global trend, Israelis want to create companies while doing good for the planet and society at the same time. IsraelDev – supported by the Pears Innovation and International Development Program at Tel Aviv University’s Hartog School of Government and Policy– is poised to give existing, newly formed and future Israeli companies an advantage in developing markets.
Talpert mentions that four billion of the world’s people are from the developing world - and that some of these people live on Israel’s doorstep, literally.
“Because in Israel philanthropic funding is so low in this arena of the developing world, the real potential for Israel is for it to make a difference with its expertise in renewable energy, water, agriculture, education and health.
“And when you look at the potential for scale and impact in the private sector, this approach goes on well in trends seen in international development, which is turning to businesses in the private sector - from the UNDP to all the big international ones. They are all working with and strengthening ties to [private] companies,” she explains.
While people in developing countries may earn pennies or dollars a day, collectively the buying power can be huge in everything from health technologies to clean-tech, she says.
Working as a Director of Special Projects of the Pears Program at Tel Aviv University, Talpert estimates that the purchasing power of these markets and the non-profits that may be funneling products to them is in the trillions.
A number of young companies have already benefitted from positioning themselves as developing technologies. They are now networking with the IsraelDev Network.
MigrantHealth is one. The startup company developed by international medical school graduates in Israel aims to streamline healthcare for marginalized populations. Noticing problems with the migrant and refugee communities in Israel, the doctors developed a platform for accessing medical records online at any clinic so that patients get better care.
Israel is one of the only countries in the world that streamlines medical care and health providers online. MigrantHealth is a continuation of an accepted practice in Israel but for the benefit of those outside the system.
Or consider PrePex, the Israeli company that developed a tool to provide pain- and blood-free circumcisions to men in the developing world. As circumcision can reduce HIV/AIDS transmission, the World Health Organization is now opting to provide the PrePex ring to 20 million men who want it.
Another Israeli company that is positioning itself to meet the needs of the developing world is Nova Lumos. This company helps people pay for use of solar energy panels in affordable increments using their cell phone.
NowForce, an Israeli company not yet linked to IsraelDev, is developing emergency call and response centers over a smartphone. This solution is now being used by police and emergency care workers in Nigeria.
In the pipeline are many more exciting technologies for development, some of which emerged out of the Dev4Dev Cleanweb Hackathon, co-organized by IsraelDev and the Terra Ventures this past November (2013). This event brought together 200 Israeli entrepreneurs, techies and international development professionals to develop applications that answer the challenges of the developing world, ranging from aquaponic apps to remote diagnostics, agriculture and rural electrification. The winning team, Platfarm, is now working on a market-coordination application for smallholder farmers in Zimbabwe, and five out of the ten teams are still actively developing their initiatives. Furthermore, the Pears Program has just launched the Pears Challenge to support more Israeli entrepreneurs looking to develop innovations for the developing world.