Israel has grown quite a name for entrepreneurship and startups in the last couple
of years, ultimately named as the startup nation. The Technion, without any doubt,
is the place where Israel's top technological brain power gathers to study and
research the next boundaries of science across its many facets. On the first
weekend of June 2013, Technion 3 Day Startup was held aiming to bring the two
worlds together allowing students from the different faculties of the institution to
form groups and start their startup journey.
The inaugural event at the Technion is the latest addition to the many other 3DS
events held at top educational institutions worldwide. 3DS was founded by students
at the university of Austin Texas four years ago to provide a platform for students
to meet and cooperate with like minded students from different faculties. With
more than 70 events held to date and 30 plus companies formed that have raised more
than 11 million dollars, it can be said that 3DS has found the right formula to
spot entrepreneurs and allow them to create winning teams.
The Technion event was setup by Dr. Daniel Freedman, a new faculty member at the
Electrical Engineering department, and Shai Haim, an alumni of the same faculty who
now works in the venture capital industry. "Having seen the strength of the event in
the USA and Beijing and hearing about the Israeli attitude toward creating new ventures,
it was only natural to me to setup the platform at the Technion as the leading Tech
institution", said Daniel. "We wanted to allow these top notch students to interact
with disciplines and issues outside their comfort zone, something that I personally
was missing as a student here" added Shai.
All the Technion faculties were contacted to help spread the word and the cooperation
was remarkable. 120 students applied and after a rigorous screening process that included a
personal interview, 38 were chosen representing 13 different faculties. This superstar team
of students enjoyed superstar sponsors who backed the event: Startupbootcamp, a
leading startup acceleration program, Microsoft R&D center, IBM labs, Wix, GKH Law, the
law firm behind the Waze deal, and BDO Israel.
The event began with participants pitches of their ideas to their colleagues. After
selecting the best ideas, they formed groups and began working. Along each and every
point of their work, participants enjoyed the advice of the best professionals ranging
from Waze's founder and president through founders of huge semiconductors companies such
as Zoran to professionals from GKH and BDO.
The wonderful setting has allowed students to establish eight exciting new ventures:
*Note - we are currently uploading the pitches and will update some links in the coming days
(1) InMyShoes:
A platform that aims to connect people seeking professional advice and people who
have the knowledge from experience. For example, a South African student seeking to
study in London Business School will be able to chat with a person with the exact
same profile.
(2) SeeCare:
A system that actively alerts parents when their baby is about to crawl out of the crib.
The system aims to utilise sophisticated movement analysis to be the active figure on
guard.
(3) CheckCity:
An innovative mobile application that will cater people with a tight travelling time
constraint. The application will suggest them with the best activities to pursue within
the allotted timeframe.
(4) L&B (Lend & Borrow):
A marketplace for lending and borrowing of equipment. While market penetration will go
through exchanging articles for free, the platform will also allow to rent selected
items. Founders believe the timing could not have been better with so many market
undergoing financial crisis, thus making people to look for other methods on cutting /
changing their buying habits.
(5) Groopiez:
Feeling the pain of students trying t collaborate together over a wide offering of
services, such as Dropbox, Skype and GDrive, Groopiez aim to give an easy to setup,
without a login, environment for collaboration that will include all the necessary
features of files sharing, chat and so on.
(6) ProTect:
With 100 incidents worldwide of underwater data cables being torn by fishing boats,
ProTect has suggested an innovative and patentable solution for the prevention of
these incidents. A completely low tech solution that can save billions of dollars
to the telecommunications companies.
(7) Verify.me:
In an era where 67% of internet users state trust as their main barrier to use the
social networks, Verify.me will verify users using a sophisticated algorithm that
takes a new approach compared to current solutions.
(8) BackVision:
700 cyclists die yearly in the US alone. Of which two thirds die on the highways.
BackVision's device will alert cyclist of vehicles approaching them on a collision
course, giving them the needed time to take preventive action
of years, ultimately named as the startup nation. The Technion, without any doubt,
is the place where Israel's top technological brain power gathers to study and
research the next boundaries of science across its many facets. On the first
weekend of June 2013, Technion 3 Day Startup was held aiming to bring the two
worlds together allowing students from the different faculties of the institution to
form groups and start their startup journey.
 |
| Pitching ideas |
The inaugural event at the Technion is the latest addition to the many other 3DS
events held at top educational institutions worldwide. 3DS was founded by students
at the university of Austin Texas four years ago to provide a platform for students
to meet and cooperate with like minded students from different faculties. With
more than 70 events held to date and 30 plus companies formed that have raised more
than 11 million dollars, it can be said that 3DS has found the right formula to
spot entrepreneurs and allow them to create winning teams.
The Technion event was setup by Dr. Daniel Freedman, a new faculty member at the
Electrical Engineering department, and Shai Haim, an alumni of the same faculty who
now works in the venture capital industry. "Having seen the strength of the event in
the USA and Beijing and hearing about the Israeli attitude toward creating new ventures,
it was only natural to me to setup the platform at the Technion as the leading Tech
institution", said Daniel. "We wanted to allow these top notch students to interact
with disciplines and issues outside their comfort zone, something that I personally
was missing as a student here" added Shai.
With several participants quoted saying it was a life changing event for them, the event obviously reached its goal.
All the Technion faculties were contacted to help spread the word and the cooperation
was remarkable. 120 students applied and after a rigorous screening process that included a
personal interview, 38 were chosen representing 13 different faculties. This superstar team
of students enjoyed superstar sponsors who backed the event: Startupbootcamp, a
leading startup acceleration program, Microsoft R&D center, IBM labs, Wix, GKH Law, the
law firm behind the Waze deal, and BDO Israel.
 |
| Participants with organisers and panelists |
The event began with participants pitches of their ideas to their colleagues. After
selecting the best ideas, they formed groups and began working. Along each and every
point of their work, participants enjoyed the advice of the best professionals ranging
from Waze's founder and president through founders of huge semiconductors companies such
as Zoran to professionals from GKH and BDO.
 |
| A gift from the sponsor - Microsoft R&D |
The wonderful setting has allowed students to establish eight exciting new ventures:
*Note - we are currently uploading the pitches and will update some links in the coming days
(1) InMyShoes:
A platform that aims to connect people seeking professional advice and people who
have the knowledge from experience. For example, a South African student seeking to
study in London Business School will be able to chat with a person with the exact
same profile.
(2) SeeCare:
A system that actively alerts parents when their baby is about to crawl out of the crib.
The system aims to utilise sophisticated movement analysis to be the active figure on
guard.
(3) CheckCity:
An innovative mobile application that will cater people with a tight travelling time
constraint. The application will suggest them with the best activities to pursue within
the allotted timeframe.
(4) L&B (Lend & Borrow):
A marketplace for lending and borrowing of equipment. While market penetration will go
through exchanging articles for free, the platform will also allow to rent selected
items. Founders believe the timing could not have been better with so many market
undergoing financial crisis, thus making people to look for other methods on cutting /
changing their buying habits.
(5) Groopiez:
Feeling the pain of students trying t collaborate together over a wide offering of
services, such as Dropbox, Skype and GDrive, Groopiez aim to give an easy to setup,
without a login, environment for collaboration that will include all the necessary
features of files sharing, chat and so on.
(6) ProTect:
With 100 incidents worldwide of underwater data cables being torn by fishing boats,
ProTect has suggested an innovative and patentable solution for the prevention of
these incidents. A completely low tech solution that can save billions of dollars
to the telecommunications companies.
(7) Verify.me:
In an era where 67% of internet users state trust as their main barrier to use the
social networks, Verify.me will verify users using a sophisticated algorithm that
takes a new approach compared to current solutions.
(8) BackVision:
700 cyclists die yearly in the US alone. Of which two thirds die on the highways.
BackVision's device will alert cyclist of vehicles approaching them on a collision
course, giving them the needed time to take preventive action
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