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In the Jewish calendar, we are celebrating the end of year 5781 and moving on to 5782! This is the occasion to look back at the achievements of our alumnus. It was a year rich in progress, fundraising and development. We are very proud to feature a few of the alumnus and their highlight of the year. CASSIT Cassit, founded by Tamar Ish Cassit, Pears Challenge II alumni, is an R&D company specializing in solutions for people with hand injuries and disabilities. Cassit has designed and produced a variety of transparent splints that allow people to use their hands again! Highlight of the year: They have started sales in Israel, Kenya and Italy. They are currently fundraising! Contact us if you want to hear more about Cassit and be in touch with Tamar! SOAPY Soapy, founded by Max Simonovsky, Pears Challenge III alumni, offers the world's smartest Hand Washing Personal Station, powered by computer vision, supervised deep learning, and IoT. Soapy turns hand-washing into actionable data science - creating 500,000 data points every day. Furthermore, Soapy's CleanMachine uses just a fraction of the resources and saves 95% of water consumption, prevents 90% of soap waste, and is capable to be off-grid. Highlight of the year: Since the Coronavirus pandemic started, their sales have boomed and Soapy is now at the scaling phase! Because of their high commitment to social goals, they have adopted a "Robin Hodd" model and are committed to giving 1 device to marginalized communities every time they sell 10 devices. Since they started in 2018 they have already served more than 10,000 children in emerging markets (India, Angola, Nigeria, South Africa). EFA EFA, founded by Yoel Ezra, Pears Challenge alumni III, developed a small, portable device, RevDx, that can perform automated blood tests, diagnostics and data analytics on the spot. Highlight of the year: They have raised 2.2M USD! Additionally, they finished the prototype of the product and successfully piloted it in Israel. They are soon opening the A round and getting ready to scale in Asia, Europe, and the US. To know more about EFA, watch the new demo here! Fabriloo Our latest alumnus Tamar Akov and Mickey Noam Alon coming out of the Pears Challenge VI cohort, keep developing their solution and are making a lot of progress. They are developing a smart waterless sanitation system. It is designed to be implemented off-grid anywhere, including in disaster settings, densely populated areas and places with no infrastructure. Highlight of the year: They have participated in the Kinneret Accelerator and won the MassChallenge 2021! RURAL SENSES Rural Senses, founded by Yau Ben Or, Pears Challenge IV alumni, developed a solution using AI and empowering local data collectors to help development and humanitarian practitioners take data-driven decisions based on what communities really care about. Highlight of the year: The team grew from 3 to 11 members. They are active in 4 different countries: India, Nepal, Ethiopia and Uganda, with new Israeli and international clients. Finally they have launched a new data dashboard, have a look at it. here! This is only a glimpse of the updates! We wish all our alumnus happy holidays and good luck for the development of the solutions.

Two of our dear partners, JDC-GRID and MindsetPCS, recently shared a fascinating report on how to best design and promote health innovation programs in low- & middle-income countries. Promoting health and well-being is an increasingly important aspect of international development. Though progress has been made in reaching UN Sustainable Development Goal 3 (To ensure healthy lives and promote the well-being for all at all ages), persistent inequalities and barriers to quality, accessible, safe, and universal health care services continue in Low-Income Countries (LICs) and Middle-Income Countries (MICs). This report identifies five core health pain points in LICs and MICs for those working in the field of public health to focus on. These include the fact that specific geographic regions bear the highest disease burdens worldwide, many healthcare systems are ill-equipped, the issue of understaffed healthcare systems and the shortage of well-trained healthcare workers, the general lack of access to healthcare services, and the unaffordability of healthcare services.These pain points offer opportunities for health innovation to provide enhanced patient experience, improved population health outcomes, and reduced or controlled health care costs. The size of the healthcare markets in many LICs and MICs are considerable. However, utilizing private healthcare services often places people further into poverty; thus, creative solutions are needed to push not only quality healthcare but safe and equitable services as well. The report looks at two case studies, Ethiopia and South Africa, as potential locations for healthcare investment and innovation. Broadening the scope beyond these two locations, the report identifies two categories of gaps and challenges associated with bringing health innovation to adoption and scale in LICs and MICs. The first are the structural digital gaps that are inherent to LICs and MICs, such as limited infrastructures, disparities in digital access, and a lack of affordability of technology. The second category incorporates the process barriers relating to the way innovations and programs are conceptualized and implemented, including contextualization, or a limited understanding of on-the-ground realities and needs; a failure to coordinate and partner with all necessary actors; and a strict following of the traditional linear innovation path that focuses on solutions rather than actual needs and opportunities. To address some of these barriers to implementation the report highlights a paradigm shift from product innovation to “service innovation,” whereby innovators consider not only the technological solution but the entire service delivery system and all the interacting elements within it. Israeli innovators are uniquely positioned to enter the growing health innovation market. This is largely due to its history of robust R&D investment and the legacy of the country’s scientific breakthroughs. 42 out of 250 active startups in Israel were associated with products or processes relevant for health care in LICs and MICs, specifically relating to themes of primary health care, telemedicine, COVID-19, non-communicable diseases, communicable diseases, maternal and child health, mental health, humanitarian health, and cross-cutting solutions. However, innovators in Israel will have to contend with countering VC’s lack of appetite, navigating a variety of potentially conflicting mindsets, and adjusting the “startup nation discourse” to apply to LICs and MICs by abandoning the linear innovation path. The report ends with eleven recommendations for integrating and adopting health innovations in LICs and MICs. These include maintaining “demand-pulled” verses “innovation-pushed” approaches. Read the full report here.

In this article, the World Bank Group explains how it is increasing its financing to help countries address the pandemic and climate change. A forthcoming five-year Climate Change Action Plan will support transformative investments in key sectors that contribute the most to global greenhouse gas emissions. Low-carbon transitions in energy, transport, cities, manufacturing and food are expected to generate trillions of dollars of investment and millions of new jobs over the next decade. Below, are excerpts from the World Bank’s outline of their proposed plan to assist low-middle income countries in the transition to a low carbon economy. Powering a Clean Energy Transition The transition to renewable energy could create over 200 million net new jobs by 2030 in 24 major emerging market economies if they focus on green investments this decade. But to clean up energy systems, it will be especially important to drive action in decarbonizing the power sector by expanding support for renewables, making power more reliable in a world where outages cost $185 billion per year in low- and middle-income countries, supporting countries in the transition from coal, scaling up energy efficiency, and eliminating fossil fuel subsidies, while expanding energy access. In the last five years, the World Bank Group invested $13 billion in improving energy efficiency. Transforming Transport Today, transport accounts for a quarter of the world’s energy Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. The urgent transformation of transportation will require developing climate-resilient public transport, reforming policies and regulations, shifting freight to lower carbon options, investing in energy-efficient equipment, supporting the transition to e-mobility. The World Bank Group is supporting public transport systems, such as bus rapid transit and metros, electric vehicles and buses, non-motorized options such as walking and bicycles, and the greening of government fleets. Creating Sustainable Cities A more sustainable world will need more sustainable cities. By 2050, over 70% of people on this planet will call cities home. Shaping a low-carbon, resilient urban transition will entail developing transit systems, better water supply and sanitation services, clean energy, circular economies that recycle waste, and improving energy efficiency through higher construction standards or retrofitting existing buildings. The Bank will also help cities and towns access more financing, along with tools and support to integrate risk in urban planning and land use. Manufacturing The production of base materials such as chemicals, steel and cement, will require new technologies, such as electrification, to rapidly and affordably transition to low-carbon development. The World Bank will assist countries in developing policies that promote low-carbon and resilient growth while making them more competitive. IFC and MIGA will apply low-carbon principles to investments in heavy manufacturing and assess climate-related drivers in projects without financing any new coal-fired power plants. A Green Transition for Agriculture, Food and Land Use A thriving food system will be needed to feed a projected 9.7 billion people by 2050. But today’s unsustainable agricultural production practices cause high GHG emissions, forest and biodiversity loss, land degradation, water depletion, pollution, and disease. To tackle food insecurity and protect forests, climate-smart agriculture and nature-based solutions will need to be scaled up. The World Bank Climate Change Lead Economist Stephane Hallegatte made the point that “New technologies play a key role, and they need to receive more support because R&D in agriculture is small compared with the importance of the topic”. In conclusion, Richard Damania, World Bank Chief Economist for Sustainable Development, argues that "the choices governments make today on how they restart their economies after Covid-19 will have long-term consequences that will shape their development for decades". Read the full article here.

This month we interviewed Yatir Zaluski, CEO of ConfirmU. ConfirmU is a data analytics start-up specializing in providing alternative credit scoring services for lenders who wish to score people with no credit history. Its solution is based on psycho-linguistic profiling in more than 20 languages, enabled through a chat bot or voice conversation using speech-to-text and machine-learning technologies. ConfirmU recently announced their latest funding round, having raised $650,000 to date! Tell us about ConfirmU There are 3 billion consumers worldwide that cannot access the financial services they need because credit risk assessment depends on historic payment information. This means that a consumer cannot access credit unless they have had credit before. We believe that everyone should be able to access the products and services they need regardless of age, location or past performance. After conducting extensive primary research into theories of psychology, ConfirmU has created a hybrid model bringing together traits that are most likely to predict financial conscientiousness. Through focus groups and external testing, high performing variables were selected to form the basis of an expert credit risk model. This model is currently deployed and being used for consumer and SME risk assessment. The data has and will continue to be validated against extensive payment performance data. What is ConfirmU working on now and what's on the horizon? ConfirmU is currently working on our first pilot, deploying a first generation alternative credit model for micro-finance lending in India. The pilot has 30,000 users and has provided 8,000 loans to women and entrepreneurs who were previously unable to receive credit. This pilot was made possible through our working partnerships with Experian, the Global Credit Foundation, and the Grameen Foundation. Some of our future projects include a new pilot with a private tier 1 bank in India, a project with two partners in Vietnam, a program in Kenya to provide smallholder farmers with finance, and we are in the midst of building a partnership in Mexico. What are some of the challenges you've faced bringing ConfirmU to low and middle-income countries and what have you learned from the experience? Working on product-market fit is always a challenge. We have spent a lot of time and resources to localize our product to new cultures and languages. Another step we knew we had to take to work in low-middle income countries was adapting the game so that it could be played on non-smart phones and working to find locations with strong enough bandwidth and connectivity. COVID-19 also puts a strain on the ability of our agents to be able to go out and collect data. What was your personal motivation to engage in this field? It became evident to me earlier in my career that financial inclusion has the potential to bring justice and equal opportunities to people. After spending years as a financial consultant, I wanted to play a role in breaking the global financial paradigm and bring about greater opportunities to the 3 billion people in the world who have never had access to credit. What is your advice for Israeli entrepreneurs that want to build companies that address development challenges? I’d recommend that anyone with an interest in developing solutions for the base of the pyramid market spends considerable time with the people that their solution is aiming to benefit. It is impossible to do impactful work without learning firsthand about the daily challenges that people in developing countries face.

We are excited to share the Final Evaluation Report of Mathika’s pilot with IsraAID in Colombia and Greece from July 2020- February 2021. Mathika, a software designed to teach learners aged 5- 13 math through games and video clips by emphasizing learning math that is language-free, was chosen to be part of our last Pilot Fund cohort. The software was piloted in refugee and migrant communities, given its potential to create a self-paced learning environment, which addresses barriers faced by children who often have limited educational support and insufficient command of a written language. The Pilot validated that Mathika helps learners improve math skills, math confidence, and resilience. Read the full report here. We thank the Edmund De Rothschild Foundation for supporting this initiative and the Tel Aviv University Nitzan Lab for designing the pilot’s M&E framework.

The Pears Program for Global Innovation and IsraAID invite Israeli companies with innovative solutions in the fields of Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Technology Education Technology Public Health Awareness and Management Technology Data Collection, Management, and Analysis Technology to apply to participate in the IsraAID-Pears Program Humanitarian Market Bootcamp & Pilot Fund. This is a unique opportunity to explore your technology’s applicability to humanitarian settings. We are seeking companies interested in the humanitarian market, with innovations that can offer durable, sustainable, and affordable solutions in resource-limited settings. Detailed sector descriptions and needs can be found at the bottom of this page, Successful applicants will be invited to attend our week-long Humanitarian Market Bootcamp. Participants will gain the basic knowledge and tools to navigate the humanitarian sector, conduct market research in this field, design targeted marketing material for these actors, Following the Bootcamp, participants will be invited to apply for a funded pilot and deploy their technology for field testing in one of IsraAID’s humanitarian missions around the world. At the end of the pilot, IsraAID experts will compose a final report documenting the technology’s impact, for the company to use in future marketing and partnership endeavors. You should apply if: Your company has a field-ready technology, operates from Israel as a business or non-profit, has a unique technological solution (not a consultancy or project management company), and is interested in working in humanitarian settings. You want to understand the humanitarian world, guided by IsraAID, the Pears Program, and other key actors. You are seeking to build connections and expand your network in the humanitarian market to help your company build more bridges with additional partners. You want to develop a strategy to see how your company can penetrate and scale in this market. You are aiming to validate your technology’s impact in humanitarian settings through this funded pilot and assess its impact in humanitarian settings—coupled with a tangible deliverable that you can use for future marketing and partnership development. ​ Program Timeline May 20th 2021: Application window closes May 30th-June 3rd 2021: Interviews for relevant companies June 2021: Short-listed technologies notified; July 11th-15th 2021: ‘Humanitarian Market Bootcamp’ July-August 2021: Market research and business plan development; August 2021: Submission of company profiles and pitch videos for final selection for pilot funding, which will be finalized in September and October. Interested companies can fill out the initial interest form and relevant companies will be asked to fill out a comprehensive application form. Questions can be referred to summit@pearsprogram.com ​ All applications will be reviewed for selection by the Pears Program for Global Innovation and IsraAID staff, including professionals in the fields of WASH, Education, MEAL and Public Health, in line with on-the-ground needs and priorities. The program does not include funding for company R&D, HR, or any other expenses. The Pilot Fund is made possible through the generous support of the Edmond de Rothschild Foundation ​

This month we interviewed Eli Cohen, Founder and CEO of Ayala Water & Ecology. Ayala has developed the 'Natural Biological System'™, a sustainable natural technology for treating sewage and waste streams, rehabilitating affected water bodies, and rebalancing watersheds. Ranging in scope from acid mine drainage remediation in Chile to urban sewage treatment in India, the NBS™ is changing the global water-energy equation, reducing dependence on energy and maintenance, freeing up valuable water resources for on-site usage, and most of all, restoring nature’s ability to preserve and protect itself. Check out this article covering Ayala's work to clean Delhi's most polluting drain. Tell us about Ayala Established in 1989, Ayala Water & Ecology is a company of sustainability experts with internationally recognized experience in Nature-Based Wastewater Treatment (MBWWT), environmental rehabilitation and integral design of watershed management, using only natural energy free tools, to restore balance to the environment, mimicking nature. Ayala's vision is to transform the approach to watershed management toward global water security, Carbon Footprint reduction, and regaining sustainable global environmental balance. Our mission is to provide the world with the tools to pursue a more holistic approach to water management, breaking the Water-Energy Nexus, and reducing to a minimum the dependence on human intervention and the use of non-renewable energy, providing clean water for all. In 2014, Ayala Natural Biological Systems Pvt. Ltd. was founded in India, to address locally the massive challenges of this sub-continent. In 2018 Ayala PNBS Ltd was founded to address the global demand for sustainable water security to villages and remote communities. What is special about Ayala’s approach to the water treatment sector? Our deeper values are truly driven by high words such as sustainability, back with nature, reversing climate change, and Nature-Based Solutions. Eli Cohen, the founder and manager of Ayala Water & Ecology, a visionary and a thought leader on water treatment and water management solutions, is carrying this flag for over 30 years now. However, Ayala Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) are also leading solutions in all operational performance KPIs, and economical aspects. ALL Ayala Nature Based Solutions have close to zero maintenance costs. They have no mechanical and electrical parts to wear off and amortize. They match or exceed the clean water values they are set to manage, and they turn the wastewater treatment site into a beautiful 'Active landscape' which grow with and serve the community as part of everyday life at the Urban, Industrial and agricultural zones while providing water security and reducing Carbon footprint What are some projects that Ayala has done in developing countries and what has the impact been? Although Ayala has designed and implemented an impressive number of solutions in developing countries like India, Sri Lanka, Mexico, and more it is yet a 'drop in the sea' compare to the actual and growing need, but nevertheless, the impact of those comparably small number of solutions is quite amazing considering the continuous encouraging on-going feedbacks from customers and beyond that the exponentially growing demand from governments, municipalities, NGOs, industries and of course privates. It feels like the Nature-Based Solution (NBS) is being acknowledged as a future mainstream solution approach. What was your personal motivation to engage in this field? I do what I do because I enjoy it and because I deeply believe in it as the only solution to reversing climate change phenomenons which threaten our children's future. Life prepared me for this amazing 'adventure' through my academic background, continuous experiences worldwide, agricultural background, and open intuitive mind. I believe that wisely following your heart and guts guide you to your own destiny, in this case, it is the environment. What is your advice for Israeli entrepreneurs that want to build companies that address development challenges? To be an entrepreneur and not just a manager you need to: deeply believe in your product/idea, patience, mental stamina, learn to enjoy the voyage as well, rather than only the 'success', learn to share and choose the right partners and even better the right investors; and some luck and good timing always help.

In April 2021, in partnership with JDC-TOV and the Israeli Ministry of Economy and Industry, we kicked off the TOV Innovation Journey. The 10 participating companies began learning about Ethiopia and its agriculture sector, the life and habits of smallholder farmers, and the nature of AgTech and Fintech sectors in the country. All along the program, they will adjust their value proposition to the Ethiopian market and meet potential Ethiopian partners. The companies will go through the process of learning about the inner workings of the Ethiopian smallholder farmer market and will get exposure and the opportunity to explore partnerships with our program’s partner organizations, companies, and government institutions in Ethiopia that are engaged with smallholder farmers. A sample of the participating companies includes Oko, Saillog, RapidFarm, AKOLogic, ChromePay, SupPlant, PickApp, and Agrifriend. The Innovation Journey is a JDC-TOV program, funded by the Ministry of Economy and Industry of Israel, organized in partnership with the Pears Program.

This month we interviewed Arnon Houri Yafin, ZzappMalaria's CEO. This week, Zzapp was named a finalist for the IBM Watson XPRIZE 'AI for Good' challenge! Tell us about Zzapp? "Zzapp is a startup that has developed an artificial intelligence-based system for planning, executing, and monitoring large-scale and cost-effective malaria elimination campaigns. Our technology consists of an algorithm that processes satellite imagery, climate, and topography data, to tailor optimal strategies for given locations; an app that allocates field assignments to workers, guiding them in the field and enabling them to upload data easily." What is special about Zzapp's approach? "Zzapp's vision is on the one hand ambitious - full eradication of malaria rather than the current gradual-reduction approach - and on the other hand achievable. Many countries have already eliminated malaria, and with the right interventions, Subsaharan Africa can do too. We use cutting-edge technology, but apply it in the most challenging environments, where smartphones are the most sophisticated, and sometimes the only, modern technology. I like to call it "Artificial intelligence with mud on its boots." How do you monitor and track the impact of your work? "We are operating in a scientific context with high standards for measuring success and a rigorous process of examining results. Generally, the measurements are the decrease in the number of mosquitoes (based on samplings from traps) and a decrease in the number of malaria cases. Like any startup in this field, we ultimately aim to decrease malaria cases in the most cost-efficient way. Currently, we are conducting large operations covering more than 200 thousand people, and while we do not have final results yet, we already know that we were able to detect more than twice as many puddles compared to last year’s operation with a similar budget. In these operations, the cost per person protected is $0.5 (compared to $X of the cheapest alternative), and we believe we can lower the cost further." What was your personal motivation to engage in this field? "I believe that Malaria is the world’s biggest solvable problem. The scope of the problem (over 400 thousand people who die from the disease every year) and the fact that it can be solved - totally solved - is a great motivator. In addition, unlike developing a new medicine, I know that even along the way we are saving lives on a daily basis, so that gives me great satisfaction." What is your advice for Israeli entrepreneurs that want to build companies that address development challenges? "When we started out, we knew we were ignorant, and therefore were prepared to learn a lot, and we know that we are naive but that this naivety is also an advantage because it allows us to take on an ambitious goal. My advice to other entrepreneurs is, first - do it! It is a long journey, with challenges exceeding those of regular entrepreneurship, but it is also very rewarding. My second piece of advice is to acquire a combination of openness and ambition. Be willing to listen to others and learn from their experiences, but don’t downgrade your own approach. A practical piece of advice is not to hesitate to approach experts for assistance. People willingly enlist themselves to good causes, and their insights can be valuable."

This month we interviewed Dr. Nir Tenenbaum, a 2019 Pears Challenge alum and Truvi's Co-Founder and CEO. Truvi is building an AI platform to optimize decision making during emergency response. Recently, Truvi was admitted to Google for Startups SDG Advisor Program! Tell us about Truvi "The frequency and intensity of emergency events are growing, while the capacity to respond remains stagnant. Paradoxically, there are more solutions and technologies than ever before, yet they cannot be found quickly, reliably and efficiently. Truvi is a smart online platform that can quickly find and reliably produce relevant and verified solutions and bridge cross-sector partnerships to help create a world where knowledge and resources to mitigate risk, optimize impact, prepare for future events, and strengthen resilience and response capacity, is sustainable and available to all. Truvi offers a systemic change by replacing intensive processes, stagnant excels and limited libraries with a smart, resource-efficient and collaborative platform that harnesses objective and past experience data into a simplified online process. Truvi’s algorithms filter out misinformation and consider data from current events, contextualized variables and specific properties for each need and solution, to provide an intuitive and guided data-based path from vital need to a calculated, relevant and precise match for each clarified circumstance. The user-friendly interface and AI extends community reach by connecting and engaging the private and public sectors. It enables local responders, governments, communities and organizations to efficiently discover and share tailor-made solutions to specific needs based on comprehensive access to best practices, reviews, expert knowledge, research, innovation and past experiences. TRUVI aims to promote faster response, empower effective management and coordination, in order to efficiently allocate time and resources on implementation rather than research and consultation. Truvi's allows all stakeholders to save more lives by helping to optimize and expedite an emergency response, enhance adaptive recovery, and build resiliency for future crises." What is special about Truvi’s approach? "Truvi is the first crisis response and preparedness platform that replaces intensive processes with a matching algorithm that bridges cross-sectors and allows them to find tailor-made solutions to their vital needs. Truvi places equitable and holistic emergency response and preparedness front and center by integrating demographic, cultural, financial, religious, and gender-based features, giving it the leverage of exceedingly precise matching. Throughout the research stage, Truvi’s data analysts kept encountering the same dead-ends due to the exhausting and tenuous process of current mainstream approaches. Currently, they depend on people’s existing precarious and diverse work habits, organizations’ internal knowledge based on its specific services, limited online libraries that provide a narrow scope of solutions, online marketplaces aimed at selling solutions, or peer exchange. In all current approaches, there is not a single direct guiding path between vital needs and best-fit solutions that considers the context in real-time or provides the ability to access and share knowledge, a major limiting factor for effective aid, preparedness, and recovery. The Truvi solution is unique as it provides proactive data-based insights that guide critical decisions in a concrete, timely and resource-effective way pertaining to crisis-affected areas, building resilience among vulnerable communities, improving partnerships, anticipating and preparing for future events, and educating cross-sectors, to ultimately save more lives." What was your personal motivation to engage in this field? "My journey in this field began in 2012 when I began helping conservation organizations in their quest to stop deforestation and illegal poaching. Through my fieldwork, I realized how even very powerful international NGOs and governmental agencies are lost in the sea of information, especially when they are in critical need of solutions. In 2017 I co-founded an NGO called SmartAid that provided technical support to the Yazidi in Iraq, to Mexico after the earthquake, and many more. The same problem that I saw in conservation came up again and again in our humanitarian work with communities and NGOs. When communities and NGOs wanted to learn what solutions exist to their specific critical problems, or what was already done before to build resilience, the process was excruciating, taking weeks at a time, with no clear answer what was the best-fitting, optimal solution. I decided it is time to harness technology and build a smart fishing-rod for the humanitarian sector. A trusted platform that will allow every community and NGO to filter through the sea of information and misinformation to find the more relevant solutions for them while improving harnessing of lessons learned and enabling all stakeholders to save more lives." What is your advice for Israeli entrepreneurs that want to build companies that address development challenges? "From my experience, a few main points to consider: 1. Research, research, research – before making a move and relocating your life, make sure you learn thoroughly about the sector you wish to serve. Learn well who are the players, what is the need, and establish a real pain point with a clear market and willingness to pay. Make sure you speak and interview as many people as possible without letting them know your solution, and learn if it is really a need they perceive to be true and if anyone will be interested to pay. 2. Find good people – Find people who are experts and leaders in the field you wish to work in, and make sure they provide you with a realistic, truthful mirroring that will make you build a more clear and need-based solution. 3. MVP: Make sure you quickly create an MVP, and that it is just an MVP. It is easy to get distracted but it is best to try and fail fast, or learn fast rather than plan for 2 years and then fail at your first try."

This month we interviewed Max Simonovsky, Soapy CEO and 2017 Pears Challenge alumnus. Tell us about Soapy "Soapy has taken handwashing to a whole new level, utilizing advanced technologies to create the best hand hygiene solution out there - the CleanMachine. The personal handwashing station dispenses the exact amount of soap and warm water needed for a perfect wash. Motion sensors scan the user's hands throughout the wash cycle, while the smart screen reminds the user what hand movements to practice. At the end of every wash cycle, the user gets a live report analyzing their hand hygiene technique so that they can learn to improve it. The CleanMachine was designed to educate for best hand hygiene, save as many natural resources as possible, saving up to 95% of water and 60% of reagents otherwise wasted in the handwashing process. The smart handwashing station has a touch-free activation system to avoid contamination at the point of use which occurs in other public washing stations. Soapy has also developed the Soapy Wisdom platform, where hand hygiene translated into data and trends insights. Facility managers can easy to understand reports and act accordingly. Furthermore, these reports can help employers create a custom infection prevention plan for their facilities, as well as understand which parts of their facilities need to be taught more about hand hygiene." What is Soapy’s story? "It became apparent to myself and Alex that hand hygiene impacts health around the globe. Determined to improve human lives everywhere, we created the CleanMachine as a new and improved way to wash hands. The CleanMachine uses as few natural resources as possible while maintaining a perfect hand wash cycle so that countries without natural bodies of water can still use it to wash hands without being wasteful of their precious resources. Soapy's soap bottles are also recyclable, as part of Soapy's efforts to diminish waste around the world. Reducing illness caused by hand-borne pathogens is what we are here to do, all while protecting plant Earth. Soapy wants to save the world - one hand wash at a time." How has Soapy contributed to the fight against Covid-19? "Soapy's CleanMachines have been installed in many public spaces for COVID prevention, these facilities include schools, nursing homes, office buildings, furthermore, recently Sheba medical center's COVID ward installed Soapy's CleanMachines to help the medical staff fight infection inside the ward. Thorough handwashing is one of the best ways to fight the SARS-COV-2 virus, as the soap deactivates the virus's membrane, rendering it inactive. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Soapy has continued to work with our clients to create a safe, germ and virus-free environment that enabled them to keep on working while making sure their employees, customers, and products stayed safe." What is special about Soapy’s approach? "Soapy is committed to doing well - to do good. We want to give back to the communities that we are working in a way that encourages good hand hygiene regardless of socio-economic status. This is why we give 1 free CleanMachine to socio-economic distressed schools for every 10 Clean Machines sold. We have developed an educational curriculum centering around hand hygiene which goes hand in hand with the CleanMachine so that students can better their hand hygiene technique while leading a safe school life."

Calling Digital AgTech Startups: There are only 4 days left before the application window for the 2021 Innovation Journey Program to Ethiopia closes on February 21st. Apply now! The Innovation Journey Program is a matchmaking opportunity for innovative Israeli digital AgTech startups and players in Ethiopia that are engaged with smallholder farmers. Since the publication of applications, we have had several prominent partners come on board, such as the Ministry of Innovation and Technology, the Bank of Abyssinia, the Dire Multipurpose Farmers Cooperative, and the Cooperative Bank of Oromia. They will be joining an already impressive group of partners that includes the BOOST Program of EUCORD and Heineken, the Agricultural Transformation Agency, the Technology and Innovation Institute, and local companies and startups that are active in Ethiopia. All of these partners are ready and excited to collaborate with Israeli counterparts! The goal of the program is to build innovative partnerships that will pave the way for Israeli startups to enter the large agricultural market in Ethiopia while contributing to increasing productivity, output quality, and income among smallholder farmers. The topic of making AgTech affordable for smallholder farmers is an important one and was recently covered in great detail in this World Bank webinar. Why you should apply to the Innovation Journey: To gain relevant knowledge necessary to operate successfully in Ethiopia To have exposure to a variety of players in the Ethiopian market To find established partners in Ethiopia Who should apply? Companies who are interested in exploring the Ethiopian market with the following technologies: Smart Farming: Precision Agriculture; IoT and Data-Enabled Farming; Farm Management Platform; Smart Pest Control Market Linkages: Farm-to-Consumer; Marketplace; E-commerce- related to or relevant for smallholder farmers Fintech: Mobile Payments; Voice Recognition; Lending & Financing; InsurTech; Banking- related to or relevant for smallholder farmers Ed-Tech/ E-Learning: Online-training, Interactive Online Video, device with a pre-installed app, digital extensions related to or relevant for smallholder farmers. The Innovation Journey is a JDC-TOV program, funded by the Ministry of Economy and Industry of Israel, organized in partnership with the Pears Program. Applications for the Innovation Journey are open until February 21st. Apply while you still have the chance!