“I believe carbohydrates will be the main source of carbon in the future in the same manner that petroleum is the main source of carbon today.”

The effects of climate change are happening before our eyes. With harsh weather conditions breaking out worldwide and one of the hottest summers ever recorded coming to an end, tech companies are moving quickly to try and make an impact. Celluflux is looking to change a low-level issue in the chemistry domain regarding the production and utilization of petrochemicals. 

Leading the charge to develop groundbreaking compounds is Elad Meller, Co-founder & CEO of Celluflux. Equipped with a Ph.D. in chemistry and BA in business administration from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, he’s devoted many years of his life towards innovation via chemistry. As a long-time chemist, Elad is focused now on finding efficient manufacturing technologies of bio-based substitutions for petro-based chemicals that are sure to make a sizeable impact on carbon emissions. 

Recently, Start-Up Nation Central met with Elad for an interview about Celluflux and its incredible mission.

Start-Up Nation Central: Why did you become a scientist?

Elad Meller: I was always interested in learning how the world works on a scientific level and eventually landed on chemistry. I studied for my Bachelor’s in Business administration on top of my Master’s and Ph.D. in Applied Chemistry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. I did this intending to combine the two fields enabling me to create a business through chemistry innovations. 

“Over 2 billion tons of petrochemicals are produced annually to manufacture polymers, plastics, and pharmaceuticals. We strive to decrease the dependency on these harmful materials and create greener energy. “

SNC: How did you end up in business?

Elad: I had no active influence that led me down the business path. During my studies in Business Administration, I developed a sense of how a business can be made and started to use the tools I was learning in chemistry to create my business and make an impact in the real world.

SNC: How did you get interested in petrochemicals?

Elad: During my Ph.D., I was researching alternatives to fuel and petrochemicals and realized how much of an impact these things can have on climate change. I wanted to replace our current toxic chemicals with safer and more environmentally friendly alternatives. I realized that, with the proper modifications, the ideas I discovered during my academic research could be implemented in various industries worldwide. 

The process of converting a theoretical idea into a business plan took time. It’s one thing to have an idea for a cleaner energy technology, but making it into a financially sound business model is a different conversation. After completing  my Ph.D., I worked for a big corporate firm that allowed me to see the business side more clearly and identify a significant gap in the green materials market that I can fill with my innovations.

SNC. What does your company do and why?

Elad: Celluflux focuses on developing bio-based materials that can fulfill the need to replace petrochemicals throughout various industries with environmentally friendly and sustainable materials. Over 2 billion tons of petrochemicals are produced annually to manufacture polymers, plastics, and many more products that we use on a daily basis. We strive to decrease the dependency on these harmful materials and create greener alternatives.

Petrochemicals account for higher levels of greenhouse gas emissions and play a huge role in water and soil pollution. Therefore it is apparent that petrochemicals must decarbonize to combat climate change in a meaningful way.

SNC: What was the first step you took to establish this company?

Elad: The first step was to find who in my circle of academic acquaintances would join me in this business venture. The first people I turned to were my two Ph.D. professors, Yoel Sasson and Zeev Aizenshtat from The Hebrew University. After discussing the idea with them, we saw the potential to make the idea into a company. 

The second step was raising funds to get the project off the ground. Hard science businesses require a tremendous amount of funds for tests and experimentation, which meant we needed to find the right investor who believed in our mission. It took some time till we found the right investors who would facilitate our goal of bringing this idea to reality.

“Plants capture carbon dioxide through the natural process of photosynthesis, and we can extract the chemicals we need for the material from these plants. This results in lower carbon emissions and a higher positive environmental impact on the production of our product.”

SNC: How did you get past the hurdle of finding the right investor who believed in your concept?

Elad: We applied for a grant from the Israeli Innovation Authority. In addition, we garnered smaller investments from friends and family. With those funds, we established the company and developed the concept into a product.

SNC: Can you tell us more in detail about the product you’ve developed?

Elad: We started working with a chemical called hydroxymethylfurfural, or HMF, a compound suitable to replace petrochemicals in various fields. HMF is a very complex compound to work with, resulting in our team having to solve many technical challenges early in the development phase. 

In the beginning, the plan was to make HMF-based fuel. But we discovered an efficient process to produce an analog to HMF that can be similarly used to replace petrochemicals and to answer the unmet need of multiple industries. After this discovery, we pivoted from the production of HMF to the HMF analog as we saw great potential in doing that.  

Soon after this breakthrough, we were able to impress an experienced investor to invest in us and catapult our pre-seed investment round to new levels.

SNC: While researching your company, I came across the concept of renewable carbohydrates. Can you tell us more about it?

Elad: The HMF analog that we have developed can be produced from carbohydrates that are abundant in plants. These plants capture carbon dioxide that transforms into carbohydrates through the natural process of photosynthesis, and we can use these renewable carbohydrates in the production of essential chemicals. This results in lower carbon emissions and a higher positive environmental impact on the production of our product. 

I believe carbohydrates will be the main source of carbon in the future in the same manner that petroleum is the source of carbon today. 

“Israelis can easily convert ideas to reality and innovate effortlessly to solve real-world problems.”

SNC: What does success look like to you?

Elad: Success, in my eyes, would be millions of tons of our product being used in various fields throughout the world and being able to make an impact on global warming and the environment. I can’t see myself saying, “I’ve made it,” because I always strive to look for the next challenge. There is always work to be done and problems to fix in the world.

SNC: What help would you need in the near future to get you to your destination?

Elad: The two primary things we’re looking for are funds and collaborative opportunities. We are looking to team up with businesses working in different fields to help us tinker with our product to be useful in various applications and address the needs within diverse industries. In addition, we are searching for talented scientists and engineers to help us design our processes to be as efficient as possible and develop new technologies in the future.

SNC: What do you think investors and corporate executives should know about Israel?

Elad: I believe Israel produces two essential traits that are hard to come by in people. The first trait is creativity, and Israelis have extraordinary abilities in innovating solutions to problems. The second trait is what we call “chutzpa” in Hebrew, which translates roughly to nerve or audacity. With these two attributes combined, Israelis can easily convert ideas to reality and innovate effortlessly to solve real-world problems.

“I’d like to highlight the opportunity that individual members of the public have to make a difference in climate change through technology.”

SNC: Do you have any advice for future entrepreneurs looking to make a name for themselves in a competitive resource-heavy industry?

Elad: Prepare yourself to encounter many obstacles. You must believe in your idea wholeheartedly to be able to persist through hard times and succeed. 

SNC: What would you like your legacy to be?

Elad: I want to be remembered as an innovator, a successful entrepreneur, and a great CEO. I want to be remembered not only as a person who took action to change the world in a positive way but also – and maybe more importantly – as someone who did it very successfully.

SNC: Anything else you’d like to add that we haven’t touched upon?

Elad: I’d like to highlight the opportunity that individual members of the public have to make a difference in climate change through technology. It comes with difficulties, but once you have broken through the early hurdles, the impact you can make on a global level is unbelievable. We live in extraordinary times.

Check out Cellaflux on Start-Up Nation Finder.

Phillip Stark is the Senior Creative Copywriter at Start-Up Nation Central, a non-profit organization that strengthens Israel’s innovation ecosystem and connects it to global challenges and stakeholders.

The post Meet Elad Meller, the scientist-turned-entrepreneur extracting carbon from carbohydrates. appeared first on Startup Nation Central.

Successful companies that innovate climate change solutions can certainly be described by the adage “doing well by doing good.” Red Solar Flower clearly falls into this category, as this startup is focused on solving the dire projections of food scarcity in the face of climate change. 

Leading the charge to develop groundbreaking solar panel material is Ilan Sharon. Armed with a degree from the Technion Institute of Technology in electrical engineering, as well as an MBA from Tel Aviv University, he’s devoted over 15 years of his life to solar technology innovation. As a long-time CEO across multiple high-tech companies, Ilan is now focused on the problems he doesn’t want his children and grandchildren to have to face alone. 

Recently, Start-Up Nation Central sat down with Ilan for an interview about Red Solar Flower and its incredible mission.

Start-Up Nation Central: Can you tell us about the challenge your solution helps overcome?

Ilan Sharon: Our company exists to solve the issue that emerges when creating a solar panel field over an agricultural area, and how that field will obstruct the absorption of sunlight – by the crops underneath said panels. Plants and solar panels compete for the same resource: sunlight. The problem is that current solutions are either inefficient or too costly. 

That’s why we created a solution by developing a material that can split the light frequencies that hit the panels into a usable resource to create clean energy, as well as allowing the right wavelengths to be delivered to the crops underneath. Now wavelengths are able to go through the solar panel and get to the plant, without having to move the panel. 

This increases the crop’s yield, while also allowing the solar panel to do its job. We can cover up to 100% of the agricultural area without harming the plant’s well-being, thus producing much more power than ever previously possible in these areas. In addition, the panels can be used as shields for the crops against unexpected weather conditions.

SNC: How did you come across this particular solution to solve this issue?

Ilan: Several years ago, one of our co-founders, professor Chaim Rabinowitz from the faculty of Agriculture at Hebrew University, was researching a solution to protect crops against climate change. Professor Rabinowitz, alongside another professor from Hebrew University, developed a material called perovskite in order to protect these crops. 

Soon after, we developed a patent and decided to commercialize this technology.

SNC: How did you get into this line of work?

Ilan: I have several decades of experience in high-tech. I started my journey in the Israeli Air Force, developing multi-disciplinary systems, and after that, I went on to become the CEO of several different startups. My background specifically in solar technology spans 15 years, including my time as director of international business development for the solar department at Siemens. It was there where I can say I developed my love for creating green energy solutions and combating climate change. 

SNC: How will this solution impact the world?

Ilan: With this technology, we are actively fighting against two major issues we face as a civilization. The first is food protection. Scientists say that by the year 2050, we will need to produce 70% more food than we are producing now. Therefore, by implementing our innovation, we can get ahead of this problem by protecting crops from extreme sporadic weather conditions such as sunburn, hail, and heavy rain. 

The second issue we are trying to solve is area consumption by solar panels. Basically, we are running out of space. Within agricultural areas, we have had to make room between solar panels to plant crops so that they can have sunlight. With our technology, we are killing three birds with one stone. We can make cleaner energy within larger spaces, defend crops from severe weather, and allow plants underneath to get the nutrients they need to grow.

SNC: How have you progressed so far with this idea?

Ilan: We haven’t actually launched the company yet. We are still in the seed round of our fundraising. We are looking for three to five million dollars to enable us to launch the product.

SNC: Who would you like to reach out to you?

Ilan: We would like to see investors who understand our solution and its superiority over prior solutions to this problem. The investor needs to be able to invest in a company that is still considered high-risk, as well as be able to accompany us to the next level when we require the next cash injection. 

SNC: What does success look like to you? When will you feel like you’ve made it?

Ilan: I will feel like we’ve made it after closing our first commercial agreement with a client. That would be a success for me because that would mean taking a proof of concept from a lab and making an efficient manufacturing process that abides by all required regulations.

Beyond that first goal, true success would be when our solution will become the leading solution in using agricultural land for the installation of solar panels. And from that, we would be able to succeed in our mission to combat global warming and defend our crops. 

SNC: What would you like your legacy to look like? How would you want your great-grandchildren to see you one hundred years from now?

Ilan: I want them to be able to experience the fruits of our labor that we are working on now. I wouldn’t want our efforts to be in vain. I would like for our innovations to have made a significant change in how we fight global warming and protect our food. And hopefully, my grandchildren will be able to experience life without hardships from the changing climate.

SNC: This initiative sounds very resource intensive. You will need tons of expensive equipment just to get your feet off the ground. What would your advice be for future entrepreneurs who would like to explore innovative solutions in resource-intensive sectors?

Ilan: I would tell them that these large-scale innovations must be looked at as a marathon. It won’t happen in a month or even in six months. We have been looking for the right investors for over a year now,  but the most important part is to not give up. If you have a goal and a vision in sight, pursue that vision until you simply cannot any longer. The damage to our planet didn’t occur overnight, but rather over many years, and so we must realize that solutions for this damage won’t come overnight either.

SNC: Do you have a message for investors who would like to invest in high-risk and resource-intensive companies like yours?

Ilan: I would tell them to do sufficient research into what they are investing in. It is easy to write a check and not be a part of the solution in an active way. But great things can happen once a company is backed by someone who believes in them and their vision.

SNC: What do you think investors and executives worldwide should know about Israel?

Ilan: Israel is a gold mine of ideas and bright individuals who are go-getters and work tirelessly to bring their dreams to life. Many of the leading innovative technologies of the past generation were started here. Therefore, I would tell investors worldwide to take a good look at the talent we have here and find those bits of gold. 

SNC: Could you recommend a fun activity for global visitors to do once in Israel?

Ilan: I am an avid hiker. So I would recommend travelers to hike along the Israel trail and see the beautiful landscapes in all parts of the country. 

SNC: Are there any questions that I haven’t asked that you would like to shed light on?

Ilan: I would like to answer the question of “why”. Why would I put myself in the middle of this situation with such a high probability of failure? And my answer to that would be that I believe every person should be active in ways they feel they can contribute. The planet is not going to save itself. So don’t be afraid to be an outlier among a silent crowd. Do your part, and we will all benefit.

Checkout Red Solar Flower on Start-Up Nation Finder

Phillip Stark is the Senior Creative Copywriter at Start-Up Nation Central, a non-profit organization that strengthens Israel’s innovation ecosystem and connects it to global challenges and stakeholders.

The post He’s solving challenges of land and light. Meet Ilan Sharon of Red Solar Flower. appeared first on Startup Nation Central.

ATLASense Biomed developed the REPHAEL platform for hospital-to-home care, offering continuous, comprehensive health surveillance for an unlimited period. The platform gives healthcare providers actionable clinical information that improves patient outcomes through early detection of deteriorating health conditions.  

The company recently won the Henry Ford Health Challenge, a competition run in partnership with Start-Up Nation Central that attracts and develops solutions that address the world’s most pressing healthcare problems.  

With more than 25 years of entrepreneurial work in the high-tech and IT industry, Co-founder Tal Or drives the vision for ATLASense. He recently spoke with Start-Up Nation Central to discuss his entrepreneurial journey, the company, and future: 

Start-Up Nation Central: Tell me about ATLASense Biomed. 

Tal Or: Founded in 2015 by Dan Atlas and me, ATLASense developed the REPHAEL remote health surveillance platform aimed to improve patient outcomes by early detection of changes to many health conditions. It is based on the PolyMonitor – a chest-worn device, which, once attached to the patient, continuously collects an unprecedented array of physiological signals and transmits them to our cloud server. Through artificial intelligence and machine learning, these multiple streams can help develop new predictive analytic algorithms and applications for better preventive care.  

Simultaneously, deeper analysis is performed to detect various clinical conditions and provide early warning, enabling better clinical decisions and preventive care, and improving the financial bottom line of the healthcare providers.  

“I thought there had to be a solution to cover all of my mother’s complicated conditions but found many limited products. This inspired me to build a solution that could help many diseases with just one device!”  

SNC: What inspired you to create your company? 

Tal: I had a personal need for peace of mind for my chronically-ill mother, who was living alone and often had life-threatening events that I could not know about until it was nearly too late. I thought that if I was aware of warning signs earlier, perhaps the worsening of her conditions could have been averted. I thought there must be a solution to cover my mother’s condition. This inspired me to build a way to help many diseases with just one device! Most devices are limited in functionality or monitoring period. We developed our own sensors and integrated them with others into one reusable device. 

SNC: There were no existing solutions for what you needed? 

Tal: There are hundreds of remote monitoring devices for dozens of different physiological parameters; however, no single one paints a complete cardiovascular and respiratory clinical picture that enables doctors to reach solid and safe clinical decisions from afar.  

Until the pandemic, there was very little recognition of this need. 

The COVID pandemic, combined with the aging population, was a wake-up call for health systems worldwide to embrace remote patient monitoring (RPM) and hospital-at-home (H@H) technologies. Yet unfortunately, remote patient monitoring is still very slow to be adopted as a standard of care. 

SNC: What was your Eureka moment?  

Tal: I scoured the market for a solution for my mother for two years but was unsuccessful. I realized that the reason is that physicians and healthcare providers either have too much raw information or the information they have is not actionable. To make a safe clinical decision, they must spend a lot of time carrying out the analysis by themselves, and they simply don’t have the capacity to do it.  

Only in 2014, after having learned about the products and the market, I met Dan Atlas, a world-renowned veteran in medical sensors and monitoring device engineering who had already participated in over 300 projects and had several patents implemented commercially by a known medical device company.  

Since both of us fully understood the need for an ICU-grade wearable for remote clinical decision-making, we knew what we should do and co-founded ATLASense. 

“The COVID pandemic and the aging population have been a wake-up call for health systems worldwide to embrace remote patient monitoring…” 

SNC: What were your first steps?  

Tal: The first step was to meet with various potential customers and users to learn about their point-of-view and fully understand the operational, clinical, and economic issues and processes. 

The second step was to create a winning business model that will be affordable for everyone, so we decided to adopt the subscription business model of Data as a Service, which is similar to the business model used by cable TV services for video content, without charging for the set-top-box device.   

Then, I built the complete financial and business plan and validated it with various potential customers. Only then did we move to the development stage and finally recruited an “A-team” to realize the plan. 

I am extremely proud of our multi-disciplinary dedicated team, who are involved as partners, for doing the maximum to make it a great success. 

SNC: When will you feel that you’ve “made it.”  

Tal: Saving even a single person’s life by using the REPHAEL system will be a great success. I would like to see the world adopt our solution as a standard of care for health monitoring and remote follow-up. We want to impact the entire health system by making this more effective and affordable.  

SNC: How did it feel to win the Henry Ford Health Challenge?  

Tal: It was exciting and touching when we won! Finally, we felt recognized for what we are trying to do and the need we are trying to solve: a solution that would enable healthcare providers to efficiently and fully monitor patients from admission to the hospital all the way home.  

SNC: How will winning the Henry Ford Health Challenge help you progress? 

Tal: We’ll use the winnings to validate our technology and integrate more information and new analytics. I hope that the successful clinical trial we did with Henry Ford Health System will lead to a purchase agreement or even a commitment to purchase in the US market. 

SNC: What help do you need right now? 

Tal: The first step is to secure more funding. I hope the current round will be completed by the end of this year. For the next round, we’ll need to establish the right partnerships. We need local strategic partners who will adopt our product and be our ambassadors. 

SNC: What do you think investors and corporate executives should know about the Israeli innovation ecosystem? 

Tal: Israelis are risk-takers by nature. Unfortunately, as a country, we’ve had a lot of experience with tough odds, and we’ve had to overcome that with outside-the-box thinking. It’s become a point of pride for us. We don’t accept things as they are. We challenge the status quo, don’t take no for an answer, and don’t let fear of failing, stop us. 

SNC: What can you recommend to our global audience regarding things to do in Israel? 

Tal: There isn’t any one specific thing to recommend – there is so much to do and take in when visiting here. Israel is an amazing place. You just have to come here, get in touch with the land, the people, the nature, and the many cultures. Take it all in, and I’m sure you’ll come away with more than what you bargained for. 

SNC: Advice to entrepreneurs? 

Tal: You have to be able to experience vast disappointments and get comfortable feeling crazy. When you try to describe your idea to others, sometimes it will feel almost impossible because they often don’t get it.  The name of the game is trusting in yourself, especially when it comes to raising money for the great idea that the world needs.   

SNC: What do you want your legacy to be? Like, what would you want your great great grandkids to know about you?  

Tal: That my team and I contributed our best efforts to improve people’s lives and the overall healthcare systems and that I was a “Mensh”. 

Check out ATLASense Biomed on Start-Up Nation Finder 

Phillip Stark is the Senior Creative Copywriter at Start-Up Nation Central, a non-profit organization that strengthens Israel’s innovation ecosystem and connects it to global challenges and stakeholders.

The post First, he wanted to help his mom – and now the world. Meet Tal Or of ATLASense Biomed. appeared first on Startup Nation Central.

Marine Edge is an Israeli innovation company focused on sustainability on the seas. There are over 90,000 merchant ships transporting goods across the globe, and the fossil fuels they burn have a bigger impact on the environment than all the cars in the world combined. Led by Amichay Gross and his co-founders Nevo Dotan and Mark Moran, Marine Edge is on a mission to improve efficiency and reduce fuel consumption for marine transport vessels. 

Amichay is well-suited to spearhead this effort, having accumulated decades of experience in aerospace energy, mobility, and MedTech in large and small companies alike. He brings a unique background and plenty of entrepreneurial spirit, which was on full display when he recently sat down with Start-Up Nation Central for an interview. 

“Every company should find a balance to benefit the 3 P’s: People, Planet and Profit”

Start-Up Nation Central: How did you get to where you are today, and what problem is your company trying to solve?

Amichay: I started my career in the field of aerospace and defense and worked in that industry for a decade. After that, I worked another 10 years across rehabilitation, Medtech, and transportation. Then I realized that what I really wanted was to make a meaningful impact on an industry that would have long-lasting significance. I started brainstorming with my partner Nevo, who spent 20 years in the Navy, and we initially landed on the automotive industry. 

We analyzed how efficient the automotive industry is compared to other industries and realized that there has been a real improvement in the last few decades with regard to clean fuel and electric vehicles. 

But one sector that has not seen much improvement is the maritime transport industry. I was surprised to learn that even though there are a fraction of ships compared to cars in the world, these ships burn just as much fuel as cars do. 

If that wasn’t bad enough, the fuel that ships use is much less refined and eco-friendly than automotive fuel and emits pollutants like sulfur oxide and other harmful chemicals that you don’t get from the fuel at your local gas station. 

That’s why we decided that shipping is where we wanted to focus and try to make an impact. 

Start-Up Nation Central: How did you meet your business partners?

Amichay: When we were 18, Nevo and I both enrolled in a pre-military academic program to study aerospace engineering at the Technion. Nevo decided to serve in the navy as chief engineer and ship captain, and I stayed at the Technion to complete a master’s in aerospace engineering with a focus on combustion and propulsion before serving as an officer in air force intelligence. 

Twenty years after parting ways, Nevo and I reconnected on LinkedIn. We started discussing which industries we could impact the most, and within a week and a half, we decided to focus on the shipping industry. In our search for someone who can combine knowledge of physics with advanced software and system capabilities, we met Mark and he was just what we needed to complete our team.

Start-Up Nation Central: Have you always been interested in making an impact? Tell us a little bit about your backstory.

Amichay: I’ve always tried to work on projects that made an impact on other people’s lives as well as my own. In the army, my main goal was to defend Israel, and after that, I worked at Rafael on defense systems that saved many lives. Later on, a friend and I started a company called SoftWheels, to give wheelchair users more freedom and better mobility.

“When I achieved some of my goals helping people in Israel – and in general – my next goal was to focus on the planet.”

I come from a religious background, and until I was 17, I was a practicing religious Jew. During my childhood, I learned a lot of moral lessons which shaped my career path. I have a 10-year-old son, and I think about what type of world I would like him to grow up in. This is why, aside from the financial motivation to succeed in my career, I want my company to succeed so that everyone on Earth can reap the benefits.

Start-Up Nation Central: How did you attack the problems in the marine industry to make the improvements you wanted to see?

Amichay:  We first examined the solution of using cleaner fuel for ships. But the problem with that is that cleaner fuel is substantially more expensive than what is commonly used. Fuel is 70% of a ship’s total operational cost. Therefore, we had to come up with a solution that is good for the environment as well as for business. We call this balance the three P’s: People, Planet, and Profit. We want to make improvements that will help people breathe cleaner air and use up less of the earth’s natural resources, all while helping shipping companies generate more revenue so they can stay afloat.

We developed a system that attaches to the ship’s drivetrain and hybridizes it so it can work more efficiently. The system utilizes supercapacitor technology as well as machine learning algorithms to provide the right amount of energy (or load) to the shaft, at precisely the right time, in order to deal with variable-size waves that would otherwise increase fuel burn by a huge amount. These waves increase the engine’s fuel burn by up to 30% more than in flat sea conditions. Because of our technology, we will be able to minimize the wasted fuel and regenerate power to put back into propelling the ship forward.

Start-Up Nation Central: What kind of performance improvements are you getting because of this added technology?

Amichay: After installing our system on a cargo ship, we will be able to optimize the engine to perform in close to flat sea conditions, which can amount to a 15% improvement in the fuel-burning economy. As a result, we can minimize the cost of running these ships and maximize profits, enabling companies to switch to cleaner fuel, and further reduce pollution.

Start-Up Nation Central: Why did you decide to become an entrepreneur? 

Amichay: I already felt like I was running a startup while I was working in a company with 10,000 employees – I was involved with research, sales, marketing, and everything in between – but I wanted to use my skills to make an impact on different fields. The impact I can make in the maritime industry is much more substantial because of how new the conversation is around making it more sustainable.

Start-Up Nation Central: What does success look like for you? What would you like your legacy to be?

Amichay: Success for me would be tens of thousands of ships all around the world using our technology to burn less fuel, and cleaner fuel, dramatically reducing pollution in our world. As far as legacy, I want to be seen as a person who took action to induce the change he wants to see in the world. 

Start-Up Nation Central: Are you looking for investors, partners, or talent?

Amichay: We did get initial funding from TechStars EPS in Singapore and InvenTech in Haifa, partnered with Haifa Marine for our first installation, and recently raised a funding round led by Good Company, a mission-driven VC, investing in startups that are leveraging deep technologies to solve big world problems. We have great partners that share our values and goals, both in Israel and abroad, but we are always looking for more partners to add to the team. We will also be looking for new talent in a few months to advance our operations even further. 

Start-Up Nation Central: What do you think investors and executives worldwide should know about Israel?

Amichay: Israel was built out of necessity. Everything we have today was created because we had no other choice. Striving to meet our needs through technology is ingrained in Israeli DNA. Israel doesn’t have oil, we don’t have much land or other natural resources, and from that struggle came all the innovations we see around us now. 

Start-Up Nation Central: Can you recommend to our global audience a fun activity to do when they visit Israel? 

Amichay: In my opinion, Israel is a hiking country: we have snow-capped Mount Hermon in the north and a wide range of different topographies stretching from the lushness of the Golan Heights all the way through the Judean and Negev Deserts down south to Eilat on the Red Sea. You can’t get bored with the interesting hikes we have in this country. 

Start-Up Nation Central: For other entrepreneurs who want to get into a resource-heavy sector and make an impact, do you have any advice for them? 

Amichay: Nothing worth doing is easy. If you see a goal that you want to achieve and you think is worthwhile, go for it. And if you fail, it’s okay – get back up and try again.

Check out Marrine Edge on Start-Up Nation Finder.

Phillip Stark is the Senior Creative Copywriter at Start-Up Nation Central, a non-profit organization that strengthens Israel’s innovation ecosystem and connects it to global challenges and stakeholders.

The post For him, it’s about helping people, the country, and now the planet. Meet Amichay Gross of Marine Edge. appeared first on Startup Nation Central.

Michael Marx is Vice President of Israeli Innovation for UST, a global provider of digital technology and transformation services. As a veteran in the field of technological innovation, particularly in cybersecurity, Michael has first-hand experience with the growth of the tech sector in Israel. In a recent interview with Start-Up Nation Central, Michael discusses his journey in both the public and private sectors and gives unique insights on the Israeli corporate ecosystem.

“I became UST’s Israeli consultant and was thrilled to tackle the question of how we can utilize Israel’s innovations within UST.“

Start-Up Nation Central: Tell us how you got to where you are today.

Michael: My passion for entrepreneurship began early on, as a child growing up in Jerusalem in the eighties. In those days I was known as a small-time computer hacker, and this was even before the internet existed. Even though I wasn’t a math person myself, I very much enjoyed learning about new technologies. For this reason, I figured I would eventually branch out into my next passion – law.

However, I decided that upon completing army service I would first travel to Paris to study French at the Sorbonne for a while. Paris seemed like a great place to contemplate what I would do next, and it was! When I returned to Israel, I enrolled in law school – but I had zero intention of ever practicing it. True to form, I soon found myself working as a CTO at Avnet, the first cybersecurity company in Israel.

Then, in 2001, I started working for the government. Unfortunately, I can’t elaborate much on my specific position there. What I can say is that in my 19 years in the public sector I worked in the realm of R&D for technology. I was actually quite useful for the role there, as I was able to put to use the strategic skills that I attained from my law background, along with my work experience from the army.

Start-Up Nation Central: When did you know that you wanted to be a part of driving innovation in Israel? What was your first step? 

In 2019, I decided to leave the public sector and turn my attention toward the “Israeli innovation movement” as I would call it, alongside social impact.

Michael: My first step was in late 2019 when I had to decide whether I want to pursue a cyber-oriented career or blend into the broader innovation ecosystem. Fortunately, I came across Cyberproof’s president, Yuval Wollman, who challenged me with a question broader than cyber – that is how UST, Cyberproof’s parent company, could benefit from the Israeli innovation landscape. I became UST’s Israeli consultant and was thrilled to tackle the question of how we can utilize Israel’s innovations within UST.

Start-Up Nation Central: Tell us a bit about UST and what they do.

Michael: UST is a global digital transformation company backed by Temasek. The company is headquartered in California, with 35,000 professionals across 30 different countries. We help companies across a variety of industries, such as health care, retail, and finance, including many Fortune 500 companies – at last count about 100 from that list.

With regard to Israel, UST had always viewed the country as an innovation hub but wasn’t fully tapping into Israel’s capabilities aside from its cybersecurity front. I worked to bridge that gap between them and Israel. Start-Up Nation Central was one of the first organizations I sought out to help me with a strategy to bridge that gap. My goal was to help establish the presence of multinational companies in Israel and help them become immersed in the Israeli ecosystem. It was Start-Up Nation Central that created a course for me, which really helped my mission.

Start-Up Nation Central: How has that experience been for you and what did you take away from it?

Michael: As someone coming out of a long career in the public sector,  I must say it was very eye-opening. I had limited exposure to the Israeli ecosystem and venture building. Thankfully, Start-Up Nation Central took the challenge upon themselves to help me, and UST, succeed in Israel.

Start-Up Nation Central: How do multinationals and Israeli startups efficiently work together?

 “In my opinion, big corporations need to establish face-to-face relationships with Israeli companies.”

Michael: Multinational corporations often can have a transactional outlook on their relationship with Israeli companies. This means that despite not having direct communication, they still demand new innovations and technologies. In my opinion, big corporations need to establish face-to-face relationships with Israeli companies. They should focus on a more direct and personal contribution to the Israeli ecosystem by offering their knowledge of different industries and helping smaller companies identify trends and improve their business models.  Big corporations are able to leverage their vast experience and information for the benefit of these growing startups, even if they aren’t interested in doing business with them.

This creates a duality where Israeli companies can serve to benefit multinational companies, while the latter can provide knowledge from their vantage point and push Israeli innovators forward. We’ve witnessed the immense contribution of our leaders, conversing with Israeli start-ups about their product market fit, and we’ve received great feedback from Israeli companies allowing them to benefit from that corporate knowledge.

Start-Up Nation Central: I understand that you’ve developed new models to help new startups with their needs and use your support efficiently. Can you tell me about that model?

Michael: We understood from the get-go that we need to continuously develop business models that fit the ever-changing business climate in order to distill values between our corporate atmosphere and the Israeli ecosystem. We opened shop here just before Covid-19 started and it forced us to rapidly adapt – both on the corporate side and also in our Israeli operations.  In early 2022, we launched a new model where we approach Israeli startups, as well as encourage them to proactively approach us, to give our support in areas where they are lacking because of their size. We share business leads with each other which allows both of us to benefit from the relationship. From a value standpoint, we see startups as partners and not as vendors or solution providers and we focus on product-ready, corporate-ready startups that have synergy with the focus areas and strengths of UST. In our new model, we leverage the startup and produce a joint Go-To-Market approach that includes exposure events and joint exhibitions. It is important for us to reflect a win-win approach to all parties.

Very often Israeli startups find themselves in a position where they have secured a deal, but encounter issues with the fulfillment of said deal. These companies are able to sell their services, but because of their size are unable to deliver their product to the masses.

For example, we have a relationship with an Israeli retail-tech established startup. At a certain point, they requested that we become their primary contractor in an innovative supermarket deal in the United States. With our support,, they were able to grow exponentially and deliver on their promises.

Start-Up Nation Central: What does success look like for you in regard to this mission you have set out on?

“My goal is to support the growth strategy of our company by helping Israeli startups expand their reach on a global level.”

Michael: I think strategy development is a perpetual process. From a UST point of view, we are constantly seeking new business opportunities and ways to innovate  – whether that be in-house innovations or collaborative innovations. My goal is to support the growth strategy of our company by helping Israeli startups expand their reach on a global level.

Start-Up Nation Central: When all is said and done, what would you like your legacy to be?

Michael: I would like to be remembered as a small footnote in the expansion of the Israeli corporate ecosystem. I also work toward making a social impact on the Israeli community. I am a board member of Nirim, one of the most influential “At Risk Youth” NGOs in Israel, so part of my passion also goes towards helping solve social issues.

Start-Up Nation Central: What should corporate executives and innovation scouts around the world know about Israel?

Michael: Israel has a very unique ecosystem in that everyone knows each other and sees each other with a certain frequency. If you don’t know each other yet, then at the very least you have several mutual connections. Israel is known to be one of the biggest innovation hubs and people from Israel are known to be successful, agile, and friendly. People here have high aspirations for the future and are go-getters. Nobody wants to waste any time, so they’re very direct and passionate about reaching their goals.

Start-Up Nation Central: Can you recommend for our global audience a fun activity or favorite restaurant when they come to Israel?

Michael: Go to Jerusalem! Every stone you see has its own distinct story. Jerusalem has multiple layers of history, from several cultures, and there’s no end to the amount of knowledge you can obtain by just walking around for a day in Jerusalem and asking questions.

Check out UST on Start-Up Nation Finder.

Phillip Stark is the Senior Creative Copywriter at Start-Up Nation Central, a non-profit organization that strengthens Israel’s innovation ecosystem and connects it to global challenges and stakeholders.

The post Meet the corporate innovation growth partner connecting Israeli tech to the world. appeared first on Startup Nation Central.

SeeTree is an Israeli AgTech startup that focuses on the optimization of tree growth and production by trees. They aim to provide farmers with data that is crucial for farming operations to improve food production, enhance profitability, reduce losses, and help the environment along the way. Israel Talpaz, the CEO and Co-Founder of SeeTree, has over 30 years of experience in the government sector and is using his technological background to usher in a new era of agricultural efficiency through innovation. Israel recently spoke with Start-Up Nation Central about SeeTree and their mission.

“We will need to feed 2 billion more people in the next 20-25 years while also saving our environment from the negative effects of farming.”

Start-Up Nation Central: What problem did you see in the world that inspired you to create SeeTree? 

Israel: The problem is that the quality of data that is available today is basically the same that was available 50 years ago. Data is still based on the eyes and legs of farmers, a process that is manual, personal, and analog – not digital. We need to produce more and more food going forward, and we won’t have more resources, so we need to produce more with less. 

Start-Up Nation Central: Why do we need to produce more food? 

Israel: The global population is growing. We will need to feed 2 billion more people in the next 20-25 years while also saving our environment from the negative effects of farming. So we need to do better for the environment, produce more food, and pay growers more.  

“The good news is we can make it better now , as long as farmers are open to these new technologies.”

Start-Up Nation Central: What’s the solution? 

Israel: We believe the solution is data-based. Right now, data is poor quality, outdated, and unorganized. We need to transform data and then transform farming accordingly. There’s both good and bad news regarding data collection. The bad news is the situation today is a mess. The food supply chain doesn’t know what’s happening, and there’s no precise farming. The good news is we can make it better now  as long as farmers are open to these new technologies. Innovative technology can solve these issues and catapult production. 

Start-Up Nation Central: Are the needs the same across regions for farming?

Israel: Yes. We work today across five continents: North America, South America, Africa, Europe, and Asia. The problem is the same everywhere  -including here in Israel: data collection depends on eyes and legs. The best growers collect data on trees in the same way, just with more people — they don’t utilize technology for their decision-making. Due to this, they cannot optimize their bottom line, and they have no network with other farms. Each farm is out for itself.

“Just as individual people have discrete dietary requirements, each tree also needs to be addressed independently.”

Start-Up Nation Central: How is working with trees different from working with other agricultural produce?

Israel: Unlike other crops that you have to plant every year, trees get planted once and live for decades. This leads to them being much more individual and unique as they grow and mature, each tree varying from the next — much like people! Just as individual people have discrete dietary requirements, each tree also needs to be addressed independently. Uniform farming as it exists today is a colossal waste! You must measure every single tree using data — remote sensing, drones, planes, satellite imagery, ground vehicles and sensors — and determine specific requirements. That’s what we do.

Start-Up Nation Central: Do the farmers have the capacity to give the tree its needs once they know this?
Israel: Today, they do not. This is a process that will take time but as we’re progressing with our business and spreading awareness of this issue, so too is their capacity. We are developing partnerships with our growers and other companies. For instance, we are partnering with a company for precise crop protection where we use our data to teach their tractors to do variable rate spraying.  We have heard farmers call the process of more granular irrigation and farming “subatomic farming.” This process will go through phases and farming will look quite different over the next 3-5 years.

“The farmers need to understand that we’re on this journey together”

 Start-Up Nation Central: What is the key to success for you in your business?

Israel: Trust, awareness, and partnerships between the growers, agriculture input providers and us. The farmers need to understand that we’re on this journey together. Once they feel this trust, the farmers start pushing us for solutions, and we usually start with “first aid” for their trees: quick fixes they can implement before moving on to partnerships based on solutions. After that, it’s full-scale optimization based on what we learn from and about the growers’ operations. 

Start-Up Nation Central: Why trees? 

Israel: My background is 33 years in the world of defense and intelligence, where I specialized in creating solutions for complex issues based on data. The defense industry really became data-driven in the past twenty years, and I was right there in the middle of all of that. So when I retired and reconnected with my family agricultural business, I realized the industry was ripe for disruption. Due to their complexity, trees are the last to be touched in agriculture. Everyone told us to stay away from trees, but this challenge intrigued us, and that’s why we endeavored to build SeeTree! Trees are like production units — they have inputs and outputs for years. Trees are now managed with our systems as digital entities, so we need to digitize each and every tree. 

Start-Up Nation Central: What was your first step? 

Israel: The first step was setting up a small team. We are three founders: myself; Barak Hachamov, a serial entrepreneur from the high tech scene for whom SeeTree is his ninth venture; and Guy Morgenstern, an experienced engineer and our CTO. The three of us formed a team looking for problems in agriculture, subsequently went to California, attended conferences, and talked with a lot of farmers and relevant players in this field.

Start-Up Nation Central: What was your Eureka moment?
Israel: The first was in the Volcani Institute when we were able to assemble a group of experienced researchers together. The session was lagging and lacking vitality as everyone was tired, but we had one big moment from a simple question: what is the biggest problem you know of in farming? The answer led us down the path to trees. 

“Everyone told us to stay away from trees, but this challenge intrigued us, and that’s why we endeavored to build SeeTree!”

Israel: Initial funding was problematic. Five years ago, VCs in Ag-tech were not as common, and very few people invested in agriculture or the food industry. Since many VCs look for a one-hit solution, we needed to take our time. We had to gain the trust of farmers, engaging in many free demonstrations. Getting in the door was complicated enough, but the last obstacle was implementation, which required active partnerships. 

Start-Up Nation Central: What advice would you give to founders of other resource-heavy startups? How can they overcome the objection that their product is not a simple, scalable solution?
Israel: They have to believe in their  vision and not rely on the trends. They should work from the bottom up and stay as lean as possible. They should also engage with customers as fast as possible, even if they are not ready. They should be honest about the fact that they aren’t ready but shouldn’t sit for a year and a half and develop. Get out there and talk to people!

“We want to be the worldwide experts on trees.”

Start-Up Nation Central: What does success look like to you? When will you feel that you’ve “made it”? What will your company look like at that point? 

Israel: When we have run full-scale optimization cases for years, that will be a huge sign of success. We want to be the worldwide experts on trees. Everyone growing trees and optimizing their operations using SeeTree – that’s success. We want our legacy to be that SeeTree transformed farming with intelligence. That we took intelligence from the intelligence world and used it to make the world better and greener!

Start-Up Nation Central: What do you think investors and corporate executives around the world should know about Israel? 

Israel: They should know  that they can trust Israeli teams. We have great ideas, and we can also execute those ideas. The issues we face now are more and more complex, a projected shortage of food, fluctuating prices and diminishing profits for growers, and harch climate challenges, and on top of that, there is a lot of conservatism and mistrust. Let’s try to cooperate more! The area that we lack in the high-tech scene between startups and companies overall is partnerships. We need to create more partnerships and collaborations, but this is quite rare, as it was also rare in the defense world 20 years ago. Foreign investors and executives can explore partnering with Israeli companies and then reap the benefits of productive cooperation.

Start-Up Nation Central: For our global audience, can you recommend a fun activity to do while in Israel?

Israel: The breadth of what you can do in one day is amazing: Jerusalem & Tel Aviv! To go from 3,000 years of rich, multicultural history in Jerusalem and then end the day with a drink on the beach in Tel Aviv, that combination is mind-blowing. 

Check out SeeTree on Start-Up Nation Finder.

Phillip Stark is the Senior Creative Copywriter at Start-Up Nation Central, a non-profit organization that strengthens Israel’s innovation ecosystem and connects it to global challenges and stakeholders.

The post From defense intelligence to tree intelligence, meet Israel Talpaz of SeeTree appeared first on Startup Nation Central.

DriftSense offers the first pesticide-driven strategy for farmers, leveraging advanced data science to calculate the comprehensive range of factors impacting spray results while optimizing pesticide drift and spraying applications in farming areas. CEO and co-founder of DriftSense, Dr. Elad Segal holds a Ph.D. in Materials Science from Bar-Ilan University and is a researcher in the field of Chemistry and analysis of environmental pollutants. He and his team, Dr. Ran Shauli (COO) and Dr. Pavel Kunin (CTO), help growers precisely control their spraying application by eliminating drift issues and maximizing on-target spraying. Recently, Elad sat down with Start-Up Nation Central for an interview about spraying cost efficiency and sustainability.

“75% of sprayed material does not reach the target, which is a huge financial toll for growers and damaging to the crops and environment.”

Start-Up Nation Central: Tell us about DriftSense and your mission

Elad: DriftSense is the first science-based prediction tool for growers, that tells them exactly when and where to apply pesticides. This technology achieves optimal spraying precision so growers can stop shooting in the dark and generate cost savings. Drifsense’s technology analyzes not only all relevant meteorological data but also the chemical properties and regulatory data pertaining to the particular types of pesticides the grower uses, as well as their specific spraying gear and its implications for dispersion.   

Start-Up Nation Central: Is spraying pesticide that problematic?

Elad: Today, 75% of sprayed material does not reach the target, which is a huge financial toll for growers and also harms the crops and environment. Growers are at the mercy of “mother nature,” and even a slight change in a given spraying event situation can damage the production capacity for years.  

Start-Up Nation Central: Growers just accept that loss?

Elad: Only because they have no other choice. But spraying pesticides must become more accurate. Think about bacteria and antibiotics: doctors give prescriptions precisely – not less, not more, because they know that bacteria might develop resistance. Pesticides require the same precision, and that’s the challenge we’re solving. DriftSense looks at the whole package: the atmospheric conditions, the mix of chemicals, and how and when the chemicals are being sprayed. We implement everything for optimal spraying time. 

Start-Up Nation Central: Before DriftSense, you were a researcher. What made you decide to take your work from the lab to the field and become an entrepreneur? 

Elad: I met my COO, Dr. Ran Shauli, in 2019 during the last year of my Ph.D. We met in Bar-Ilan University’s entrepreneurship program, UnBox, which helps develop scientific and research-based startup companies. I was very interested in Applied Chemistry, especially in pesticides and agricultural chemistry. I fell in love with a lot of things that we do as researchers, but that all really stemmed from a deep-rooted love of real-world problem-solving. I was attracted to entrepreneurship by a desire to make people’s lives easier by solving their problems, backed by science.

One day, Ran and I were brainstorming about what problems we could solve with our backgrounds, and we discussed the prevalence of pesticide drift – a problem that exists not just in Israel but across the world. Three months later, with tens of meetings booked on our calendars, we decided to buy tickets to California, and we were on a plane by the end of the week. 

Start-Up Nation Central: What was the next big step in turning this into a business?

Elad: When we went out to California, saw the issue for ourselves, and sized up exactly how big the problem is, we realized we needed additional expertise. So we onboarded our CTO, Dr. Pavel Kunin, who holds a Ph.D. in Geophysics and Atmospherical Science. Pavel was the missing link we needed as he perfectly complements the chemistry that Ran and I bring to the table.

“I was attracted to entrepreneurship by a desire to make people’s lives easier by solving their problems, backed by science.”

Start-Up Nation Central: What is the biggest challenge facing growers?

Elad: Across the board, growers want to be more sustainable and cost-efficient. The climate is difficult, and the weather is turbulent, preventing people from producing at the same rates, even if they are in the same regions.

Start-Up Nation Central: How did you come up with your solution for this challenge?

Elad: We’re a Software as a Service business, but our customers aren’t all sitting behind computers. Our best days are when we’re on the ground talking to people with a vested interest in solving this problem, driving 600 miles to meet all these various stakeholders physically in the fields of California and the Midwest. We’ve met more than 250 stakeholders, including agrochemical companies, growers, contractors, NGOs, and universities.  

We have found that the best way to collaborate is to communicate; our clients have similar needs, but they are expressed in different ways. We needed to understand the problem fully and from every angle before even attempting to solve something so vastly impactful and complex. 

Start-Up Nation Central: What does success look like for DriftSense?

Elad: If people use this solution, we will have helped humanity and done something good for the planet and the future of agriculture. That’s success.

Start-Up Nation Central: What do you need to get there? 

Elad: As an early-stage startup, funding is a dominant part of it. Additionally,  speaking to the right experts in this domain is the most important thing in sustaining a viable business, and transforming ideas into reality, in my opinion. I am focused on surrounding myself with key opinion leaders and experts.

 “Our best days are when we’re boots on the ground talking to people with a vested interest in solving this problem, driving 600 miles to meet all these various stakeholders physically in the field.”

Start-Up Nation Central: What do you think investors and corporate executives around the world should know about Israelis?

Elad: Israeli entrepreneurs are a unique brand of human material. Israeli people are innovative, bold, and have out-of-the-box perspectives. We are not afraid to go all-in when we have the opportunity, not just in high-tech but across industries. We might come across as rude or overwhelming, but that’s just our passion.

Start-Up Nation Central: Can you give some advice for other entrepreneurs?

Elad:  Learn and adapt, let go of your ego! Entrepreneurial roles are a roller coaster at the end of the day. I would recommend that every entrepreneur going through down times disconnect from the environment for a day, relax, and then focus on transforming the lows. Ask yourself the question: how can I make things better? Write down three quick and concrete steps. That immediately takes focus away from melancholy and onto problem-solving, which is what entrepreneurs love to do.

Start-Up Nation Central: Can you recommend a fun activity to do in Israel to our global audience?

Elad: I like going to a special spot in the central region of Israel, in Hod Hasharon. There’s an ecological park with huge lawns, a lovely lake, small hills, and bicycle tracks with great views. I love going there with my family.

Learn more about DriftSense on Start-Up Nation Finder.

Phillip Stark is the Marketing Manager for Start-Up Nation Finder at Start-Up Nation Central. Finder is provided courtesy of Start-Up Nation Central, a non-profit organization that strengthens Israel’s innovation ecosystem and connects it to global challenges and stakeholders.

The post Meet the researcher and entrepreneur helping the world’s growers on their sustainability journey appeared first on Startup Nation Central.

At the end of the day, I think about my kids. I’m afraid that my kids and future grandkids won’t have a place to live or food to eat. 

Smart Agro invests in research and development companies that have the power to significantly impact our future and help transition them to independent, professionally managed companies that, at their core, have a unique technology with tremendous commercial promise and economic value. 

Smart Agro’s highly experienced management team has an extensive business network that supports the development of ideas and startups from early-stage through mature companies to exit. Start-Up Nation Central sat down with Smart Agro’s CEO Dganit Vered to discuss the fund and its role in the future of farming and food. 

Start-Up Nation Central: Tell us about Smart Agro and its overall mission. 

Dganit Vered: Smart Agro enables people to invest in growing AgriTech startups in Israel. We strive to invest in companies that are making a difference in combating climate change issues and preserving the future of the planet. We are most interested in investing in those companies developing new techniques for food production and providing solutions for the other big problems in AgriTech. 

Unlike venture capitalists, we look for less risky businesses to invest in to ensure the public’s invested funds are in good hands, so we want companies that have traction and a positive trajectory toward “unicorn” status. 

Start-Up Nation Central: Tell us a bit about your background and how you found your way to the AgriTech sector? 

Dganit: I worked for Intel for 17 years, where I learned most of my business skills related to management, strategy, and execution. When I left Intel, I took VP R&D positions, first at a pharmaceutical company and then at a seed company. Then I worked for companies in aquaculture and biopesticides before becoming a venture partner investing in AgriTech and FoodTech. 

I traveled the world visiting facilities and meeting stakeholders and learning about the agriculture industry – falling in love with it really – but I quickly realized that the problems the industry faces are well beyond solvable with just seeds. 

Start-Up Nation Central: What was your “Eureka” moment? 

Dganit: It happened over time as I started to understand the inefficiencies in the industry. For example: how dependent we are on pollination, and that the pollination problem is much bigger than I thought. Around 40% of bee colonies die every year due to the results of climate change, and 70% of our food sources are dependent on pollination. 

Start-Up Nation Central: Would you say that we are currently in a “save the world” situation? 

Dganit: Definitely. As Nobel Prize winner Norman Borlaug said, “in the next 40 years, farmers will have to grow as much food as they have in the last 10,000 years combined.”   

The reason I moved into entrepreneurship was to make better use of my brain power and make an impact with several companies in this space rather than one. I feel if we don’t act now and utilize technology to innovate new methods of food production, the world will have a huge problem to deal with in the future.  

At the end of the day, I think about my kids. I’m afraid that my kids and future grandkids won’t have a place to live and food to eat. Because we are the startup nation, I don’t think we will save the world by reducing emissions but rather by using our brainpower to tackle the issues head-on, I’m been working in agritech investments for the past four years; and a year ago, I moved from Entrée Capital to Smart Agro – we now have six companies in our portfolio. 

Start-Up Nation Central: Can you tell us about a few of these companies and why you invested in them? 

Dganit: The companies we invested in are split by the areas of focus that we are involved in. Arugga built a robot that solves the pollination and headcount problem in greenhouses by using “air puff” technology – air does not transfer diseases like bees do while in contact with plants. The next model of this robot will replace human activity in the greenhouse 

BetterSeeds are one of the leading 15 companies in the world specializing in CRISPR/Cas-9 gene editing for plants. These solutions enhance plant tolerance to external stresses. For instance, they breed cowpeas to replace soybeans because of their high tolerance to heat.  

FruitSpec deals with size and yield prediction for orchards. They work to reduce the $30 billion yearly loss from food waste created by miscommunications between product marketing, packing houses, orchards farmers, and retail vendors. They created a dashboard to help orchards predict where and when to pick in order to generate as much revenue as possible, as well as give insight into what contracts to sign before the season starts. 

“ In agritech specifically, Israeli entrepreneurs are more experienced than the rest.” 

Start-Up Nation Central: What do you look for in a startup? 

Dganit: The first thing we look at in a company is its team. We like to see if the team has the skills and capabilities to grow a company worldwide into a billion-dollar company. The chemistry between the team and their communication skills with investors are very important to us. We believe that investors are part of the team, and we work to improve the company alongside their existing team. 

Start-Up Nation Central: How important is an entrepreneur’s passion when it comes to the AgriTech sector? 

Dganit: Being a CEO of a startup is a very hard job; if the passion isn’t there, I would question how resilient they will be when the hardships of running a startup come to pass. There are always ups and downs that come with running a company, and they’ll have to be able to handle those pressures without burning out. That’s where passion comes in. 

Start-Up Nation Central: Is there anything special about Israeli entrepreneurs? 

Dganit: In AgriTech specifically, Israeli entrepreneurs are more experienced than the rest. Out of our six portfolio companies, only two are run by a younger person. Many of them come from different backgrounds and are already seasoned in the tech space. Their ability to learn on the go is what sets them apart from other entrepreneurs and other companies. 

Start-Up Nation Central:  How are the sectors of food and agriculture adopting innovation to address their challenges? 

Dganit: First of all, food and agriculture are two very different problems. While some people may say they can’t live without ketchup, the truth is that ketchup is a luxury, while tomatoes are a necessary staple. When talking about food shortages versus agricultural problems, they don’t necessarily have the same impact and connection to each other as one may think. Currently, there is less attention on agricultural efficiency and more of a focus on replacing livestock and aquaculture. I believe that is because agriculture is difficult, has small margins, and takes longer time: you need to account for seasons, whereas with processed food, you can experiment all year round. 

Start-Up Nation Central: What does success look like to you, and when will you feel like you’ve made it? 

Dganit: We make it when the companies we’ve invested in make an exit. I believe for our portfolio companies, that will happen in the next 2-4 years. Usually, venture capitalists expect their companies to exit within 10 years, while we look to achieve this in a much shorter time frame. When a merger or acquisition of a company takes place, that is proof that that company has something valuable. An IPO is another exit path that is valid for our companies.  

Start-Up Nation Central: What kinds of startups would you like to reach out to you? 

Dganit: We are open to speaking with any startups that have to do with AgriTech. At times these startups will be too early or too late for us, but even so, I would be open to meeting with them to share tips or advice. If they’re too early, we would like to keep in touch till they reach the right stage. Those in the later stages, I most likely know about already because we screen for these companies using Start-Up Nation Finder regularly – it’s a useful tool that helps companies and venture capitalists connect. 

“ Israelis always think about how they’re going to make themselves global. Most American or European entrepreneurs mainly think about becoming successful locally. That’s one of the things that sets us apart.” 

Start-Up Nation Central: Besides Finder, how Start-Up Nation Central helped you? 

Dganit: I love Start-Up Nation Central. It is one of the best NGOs at promoting the Israeli ecosystem abroad and pushing it in the right direction. A few weeks ago, I was at their event in Morocco, and the business connections I made there were invaluable. New relationships like that are essential for me and for any company looking to expand its reach. Two of our portfolio companies that joined the SNC delegation to Morroco were able to close deals during the visit. This is an incredible achievement.   

Start-Up Nation Central: What do you think investors and corporate executives around the world should know about Israel? 

Dganit: I think they don’t always realize how strong the ecosystem is and how easy it is to work with Israeli entrepreneurs. Israelis always think about how they’re going to make themselves global. Most American or European entrepreneurs mainly think about becoming successful locally. That’s one of the things that sets us apart. Most of the Israeli population goes through army service and learns very important skills about managing people and resources very early; at 19, I was in charge of 60 soldiers at an age when many other future entrepreneurs were starting college. 

Start-Up Nation Central: Can you recommend to our global audience a fun activity or favorite restaurant for when they come to Israel? 

Dganit: A cold beer on the Tel Aviv beach with a view of Jaffa is an experience second to none. 

Click here to learn more about Smart Agro on Start-Up Nation Finder.  

Phillip Stark is the Marketing Manager for Start-Up Nation Finder at Start-Up Nation Central. Finder is provided courtesy of Start-Up Nation Central, a non-profit organization that strengthens Israel’s innovation ecosystem and connects it to global challenges and stakeholders. 

The post Meet the AgriTech investor building a better world for future generations. appeared first on Startup Nation Central.

DANA Global is an Abu Dhabi-based venture builder and investment platform that supports women-led startups in Desert-Tech, including AgriTech, FoodTech, water solutions, renewable energy, and circular economy. Its program emphasizes the importance of diversity in innovation, empowering women from across the MENA region who generate unique sustainable tech based solutions. Start-Up Nation Central sat down with Shirley Shahar to hear her story and vision.

We are focused on individual startups, not entire cohorts: there is no “one size fits all” approach for our startups.

Start-Up Nation Central: Could you describe what a venture builder is and how it’s different from an incubator or accelerator?

Shirley: Our venture builder acts like a co-founder of the startup to assess what is really needed and execute that in a quantifiable, practical way. Once the startup founders meet the investment committee and we decide it is a good fit, we create KPIs that we feel are needed in order to advance the company for the following investment stage. 

A big part of our partnership is meeting these milestones and building our partnership on tangible successes:  marketing or finance models, networking in the MENA region, resolving product issues, or even building teams in the startups. That is really the difference between a venture builder and an incubator, the bespoke nature of our engagement, and our skin in the game. Also, we are focused on the individual startup, not an entire cohort, which allows us to take a more boutique approach: there is no “one size fits all” for our startups.

Incubators and their workshops tend to focus more on the ideas surrounding the startups. That’s great, but startups need a lot of ground-level assistance. Accelerators are a bit different but still serve cohorts, so there isn’t enough attention given to the individual startup and its needs.

 We were here before the Abraham Accords were even implemented.

Start-Up Nation Central: How did you get to the UAE and build your program over there? A few years ago it would have been very difficult for you to be there and do this work. 

Shirley: We were here before the Abraham Accords because our company is a regional entity, and its strategy is rooted in opportunities that can be found in the MENA region. When we started to work on the idea of supporting solutions for the desert, we saw that desertification is something that’s happening all around the world and that there are specific concerns in tech, such as agritech and FoodTech, that can be employed to address it. The massive opportunities for these sectors are increasingly located in the developing world.  

A few years ago, the tech industry was focused on FinTech, eCommerce, and Cybersecurity, but nowadays food and water are becoming pressing issues that we can no longer ignore. We see climate change as a strategic opening for the agrifood and ClimateTech sectors. The MENA region is the perfect place to bring the Israeli staple of innovative agriculture. We share the same limitations and climate, and the region seems eager to catch up to Israel in this regard.

The MENA region is the perfect place to bring the Israeli staple of innovative agriculture.

Start-Up Nation Central:  How are the MENA and Israeli ecosystems being linked?

Shirley: MENA is a traditional market. Farmers here often work in the same way they worked 50 years ago, but they know this is not sustainable. They know they need to be more productive in exporting to the European markets, and are experiencing the effects of climate change in their work. They register a sense of urgency as they notice how climate change creeps up and begins affecting their farms and livelihoods. This is a very relevant area for these ecosystems to converge on and for tech to supply much-needed solutions. We were looking at this two years ago, and while it may not be as glamorous as the cybersecurity trend, these are technologies that will be used for decades after implementation and are more dynamic and impactful in my opinion. 

Start-Up Nation Central: Tell us about your personal history and why you became passionate about food sustainability?

Shahar: I started in advertising and marketing, and then moved to agriculture. While working at Agrexco, I met many farmers who worked in the desert. Twenty years ago, Israel was exporting fresh produce and it was a big part of the economy. Much of the produce was actually from the desert, from very innovative farmers who were passionate about working with the land in a sustainable way and who saw the desert as an opportunity and not only as a challenge that needed to be overcome. I was relocated with family, several times, first to Bangkok, then to Singapore, then to Rome, and finally to Boston, where I was able to take classes at Harvard and MIT focused on innovation and technology. When Zada Haj, a Palestinian Israeli colleague, came to me and wanted to do something in memory of our friend Dana Salah, an entrepreneur and engineer from Ramallah, who died in a car accident, I thought it was a good time to start working towards this dream of connecting desert to innovation. That’s how DANA Global was born.

“… diversity and inclusivity became an important element of DANA”

Katie Wachsberger, our COO, who has been working in the GCC for over seven years, partnered with Zada and me, and together we established the venture builder in Abu Dhabi. The diversity of the team happened organically but we worked so well together that diversity and inclusivity became an important element of DANA‘a culture. Abu Dhabi was chosen as the home for our venture builder because it is a hub for the entire MENA region. Its rulers have also demonstrated a serious commitment to catalyzing a regional movement toward policies around food waste, food security, circular economy, and sustainability.

Start-Up Nation Central: DANA’s center in Israel is in the south of Israel. Why did you choose this location?

Shirley: I had already worked in the Arava and the Negev, and was familiar with the potential it presented for our initiative: while it’s very beautiful, it’s not an easy place to live, so the people there have a close relationship that isn’t based strictly on business, but on empowerment of the entire community. There are farmers there that have been working in agriculture in very innovative and creative ways for decades now, making it a strategically perfect choice for DANA. The Israeli desert is a living success story for the verticals we work with.

AgriFood-Tech is fundamentally different from cybersecurity or fintech – these are physical products that are connected to physical issues

Start-Up Nation Central: Tell us about the process of how DANA works with startups and their products. 

Shirley: First of all, it’s important to note that AgriFood-Tech is fundamentally different from Cybersecurity or FinTech. It isn’t like writing code that can be iterated on and adjusted – these are hardware-based products that are connected to physical issues, so they aren’t easy to change once the product is finalized. Such pivots are generally quite costly, and of course, we are trying to optimize the use of time and capital with our startups. At the very beginning of any partnership, we take the product to the field to test the feasibility on a technological level and from the point of view of the consumer (farmers, packaging houses, etc). We take the product to our network of farmers, greenhouses, agronomists, and other corporate design partners. This gives us a very good idea of how to work with the product and whether it will actually take hold in the market. Sometimes a startup has an excellent idea that will not work because it’s too expensive for the farmers to implement. When I come to investors and tell them that the product will work in the market, it’s because we’ve checked. DANA’s startups are practical and strategic on every level because of this approach.

Start-Up Nation Central: How are you partnering with the UAE?

DANA is a UAE-based entity registered in Abu Dhabi Global Market., Additionally we have partnered with Masdar City, a Mubadala-owned company that supports sustainability and innovation in Abu Dhabi. DANA is building the first AgriTech early-stage pilot facility in Abu Dhabi. It’s a small site but gives us a space to test products from all over the MENA region, including Israel. The second important part of this partnership is that we are also able to work with local farmers in Abu Dhabi. There is a very strong network of farmers who can work with our products while still in beta so they can be perfected and brought to market. We are also working on creating three more beta sites, including in KSA, Morocco, and Egypt.

Start-Up Nation Central: What does success look like for DANA? 

Shirley: Success for us is our startups scaling up in MENA with corporate and government partners and notable exits in the region. Continuing to promote success among women-led startups, and bringing their solutions to fruition in impactful ways also provides a sense of achievement. That’s the vertical that we believe in the most and I believe that this strategy will come to fruition within the next year. 

DANA is an ambassador of goodwill, good technology, and good business practices. On a day-to-day basis, we are just doing business, so the impact comes organically.

Start-Up Nation Central: Collaborating with states in this region is sort of historic. Do you feel like you are a sort of ambassador for Israel?

Shirley: I feel that DANA is an ambassador of goodwill, good technology, and good business practices. But on a day-to-day basis, we are just doing business. The impact comes organically. 

For instance, we were working with a solar startup in Gaza a year ago that was simply an amazing group with a great product. A few months ago, there was a terror attack in Tel Aviv, and the startup founder was the first person to check and make sure that my kids and I were okay – before my mom even had a chance!

This human moment was significant for me; at the end of the day, DANA is making a platform that creates dialogue and connections between people around a shared vision. I think small stories like ours are what will really add up and have the biggest impact.

Start-Up Nation Central: What are you looking for moving forward?

Shirley: We want to make sure that our investment platform is completely funded by 2023, but it’s important that our investors are diverse and passionate about creating connections between both people and peoples. I’m very proud that we were able to get a Palestinian-Israeli investor, that we are creating more partnerships in the UAE, and that we are onboarding investors from the EU – all crucial parts of diversifying our partnerships globally.

Start-Up Nation Central: What do investors around the world need to know about Israel?

Shirley: The quiet verticals will have the most impact moving forward: AgriTech, FoodTech, etc. Sustainability is the future, and Israel is leading the way.

Start-Up Nation Central: Any recommendations for people coming to visit Israel?

Shirley: The beach is an amazing place to relax,  but I found my secret places on the beach, that allow me also to do work; I recommend the beaches further south in Tel Aviv, closer to Yafo. And you have to try Asif Cafe!

Start-Up Nation Central: Any recommendations for fledgling entrepreneurs?

Shirley: Get good investors that trust you. Be patient and above all trust the process. Know your timing. You’ll know when the time is right for you. Be attentive to the ecosystem that you are interested in and always try to find people that you will love working with.

Click here to learn more about Dana Global on Start-Up Nation Finder. 

Phillip Stark is the Marketing Manager for Start-Up Nation Finder at Start-Up Nation Central Finder is provided courtesy of Start-Up Nation Central, a non-profit organization that strengthens Israel’s innovation ecosystem and connects it to global challenges and stakeholders.

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“The vast majority of products that are marketed as sustainable are still plastic. Not sustainable in any way.”

Start-Up Nation Central: Tell us about Daika Wood, the problems you solve, and your solution.

Michael Layani: Daika Wood is a materials company. What we aim to do is to give the manufacturing industries a new material that allows mass manufacturing of a 100% natural product. Currently, in these industries, there is an intention to produce something sustainable. However, the materials made are plastic. So they aren’t actually as sustainable as they purport to be. What we offer is the same freedom of design that plastics give with the additional guarantee that the product is 100% natural. 

Daika Wood is also trying to help solve the wood waste problem. The material that we are offering utilizes massive amounts of wood waste that comes from municipal, agricultural, and industrial waste that isn’t put into any circular solution. So we are offering a new raw material that has a wide range of applications and designs with the ability to be 100% natural. 

Start-Up Nation Central: Are you saying that there are materials out there that purport to be natural but actually are not? 

Layani: The vast majority of products that are marketed as “sustainable” are still plastic. That seems confusing, doesn’t it? There are two reasons that they are able to be labeled as “sustainable”: 

Firstly, it is possible to manufacture plastic from raw materials, called bioplastics. PLA is one such plastic. However, even if they are used with raw or natural materials, their inability to degrade and the way they are processed are still identical to plastic. So there is no meaningful reduction in the environmental impact. 

The second way to claim “sustainability” is by producing plastics combined with some organic material. For example, they may take wood waste and combine it with plastic. This is also problematic because the consumer will still receive plastic that isn’t recyclable. The only sustainable selling point of plastic is that it is reusable, but these materials cannot be recycled because they are only partially plastic. So, again, not really sustainable.

So what we are doing here at Daika is twofold in response to this issue: we are not using petroleum-based materials at all, and we are completely recyclable.

One thing we really committed to here at Daika was that we would not use any petroleum-based products, and that’s a really big deal. Consumers are unaware that the materials they are using that are marketed as sustainable are really anything but.

Start-Up Nation Central: Do you think consumers realize that the products they may be using are actually not as sustainable as they have been led to believe?

Layani: Well no, but they might be able to come to that conclusion on their own due to two factors, one is price. Regulators are increasing the fines and carbon credits that these manufacturers need to pay based on their emissions. This is one way that consumers will be able to know that what they are using is pure plastic. Also, there is a difference in the tactile sensation of wood and plastic. Our customers will know just by touching it that what they are feeling is not plastic, but an organic material. And at Daika, all our products are made with wood.

Start-Up Nation Central: Could you talk about the wood waste problem you mentioned that Daika is solving?

Layani: Of course. The wood waste problem is in agriculture, municipal, and industrial waste. Out of these three, agricultural waste is the most challenging. Take wheat. Most of it is thrown away and not utilized. This also exists for corn and many other agricultural food products. The issue with recovering these wasted bits of wheat or corn is that they are disposed of over large geographical areas, and it varies throughout the year. It would be great if we were to connect with conglomerates at Daika because then we would have a consistent base to use this raw material that is being wasted and not recycled in any way. But in general, agriculture is the most challenging. 

For industrial wood waste, we target sawmills and large factories that are creating large amounts of wood waste streams that are not being used in a circular economy. We are using this relationship to recover raw materials that can be used in the Daika process to create new products in these mass manufacturing industries like furniture.

In the municipal sector, the amount of waste created is increasing as the population grows, and there has really been no solution pushed forward to alleviate this issue. Typically the municipalities need to pay a lot of money to dispose of their wood waste. We are working with large wood conglomerates in Europe, one Swedish and one Finnish. And we know that they produce tens of thousands of tons per year of these waste streams that they don’t know what to do with when a company like ours can actually use it. So Daika Wood is working to establish contacts and build relationships with companies that really need to dispose of something that we can use.

Start-Up Nation Central: When did you first realize this was such a big problem and how did you come to dedicate your life to this?

“I have always had an affinity for natural wood.”

Layani: I got my PhD in chemistry. After that, I became a researcher at the Hebrew University. As a side note, I have always had an affinity for natural wood. Everyone can tell there is a natural warmth and feel to wood, and I’ve always connected with it personally. We were working on a project regarding 3D printing in a different context and were developing materials to use, and as I was holding the samples that we were using in the project, it occurred to me that we weren’t using completely raw natural materials and that we would be able to solve these waste stream dilemmas by upcycling what was being tossed away. 

When I realized we could solve two problems at once, this is how I became very motivated to see this project to fruition. But it was challenging. I had to decide to let go of my academic career and fully establish Daika on my own.

Start-Up Nation Central:  Interesting. So what drove you to take leadership of this whole enterprise?

Layani: I saw the whole picture and had the vision of how it could be, even with just the small samples in my hand. In the beginning, it was harder for other people to see how the enterprise would pan out. I also knew that if I didn’t do it, then no one else might. And I am really happy that I made that choice: there is a huge necessity for this work in the industry and we are getting great feedback from our partners.

Start-Up Nation Central: What have been some challenges since then?

Layani: Well, we wanted this company to look attractive to the industry. So we worked hard to show that the price was attractive and that the project itself was feasible. Overcoming this hurdle got us connected to a very important investor who saw an overlap with one of his companies, which takes household trash and turns it into plastic. With this connection, we got enough money to start moving forward very rapidly and at much larger scale. Nowadays, we are working with Steelcase in Munich so they can open a Daika facility for their wood waste. This is allowing Daika to potentially have a footprint in the US market, a fact we are very proud of. Other collaborations – still confidential- are also in the works in Michigan.

Start-Up Nation Central: What does success look like for you?

Layani: Lots of different projects with companies that mass manufacture their products. Where we are able to utilize massive amounts of waste streams and create large volumes of our product. That would definitely check the box of success for me. This would show that Daika isn’t just a startup with a good idea, but that our product works as intended and stands on its own.

Start-Up Nation Central: What is standing in the way of success at this point? What do you need more of?

Layani: We definitely need funding to establish the next manufacturing lines. We do have investors lined up for this but it is a process. We also need strategic partners to be able to establish mass manufacturing for our product so it can be used widely.

Start-Up Nation Central What would you want Daika to be world-famous for?

Layani: I want Daika to be the immediate association when anyone considers wood waste. For instance, someone would see furniture on their block and would say to themselves, “This can be used through the Daika process to be made into other furniture, wood flooring, etc.” I would love to see that happen. It’s now my life’s work.

Start-Up Nation Central: What do you think investors and corporations need to know about Israel?

Layani: One word: Chutzpah. We see one challenge and we charge at it. We are always going toward the future. 

Start-Up Nation Central: Do you have any recommendations for people when they come to visit Israel?

Layani: I want to think of something outside of the box to recommend…the crater of Makhtesh Ramon in the Negev. This is not a place that a lot of visitors go to and it is really an impressive sight. You can also check out all the farms that were created in the desert thanks to Israeli ingenuity.

Phillip Stark is the Marketing Manager for Start-Up Nation Finder at Start-Up Nation Central. Finder is provided courtesy of Start-Up Nation Central,  a non-profit organization that strengthens Israel’s innovation ecosystem and connects it to global challenges and stakeholders.

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