Jake Epstein

The 45 entrepreneurs of the second cycle of Starting Up Together at the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation on February 28, 2019 (Roei Hirsch)

April 5, 2021, 1:10 pm

A decade post-Arab Spring, Startup Nation program aims to build ‘Startup Region’

60 young participants from across the Mideast and North Africa are working in Starting Up Together, an online hub, to develop ideas that can have an social impact

By Jake Epstein

An illutrative image of a woman's eye (eternalcreative; iStock by Getty Images)

March 25, 2021, 11:40 am

Startup developing ‘world’s first’ synthetic cornea raises $25 million

EyeYon’s flagship product would enable doctors to treat fluid buildup in cornea in a minimally invasive way, avoiding use of human tissue

By Jake Epstein

On Good Deeds Day on March 16, 2021, four ADI residents became the world’s first wheelchair users to train in an advanced flight simulator, each enjoying 60-minute flight instruction simulations with the guidance of an El Al pilot (Liat Mandel)

March 24, 2021, 10:34 am

Piloting El Al simulator, four people with disabilities touch the sky

On ‘Good Deeds Day,’ residents of ADI, which provides residential and rehabilitative care, become first pilots in a wheelchair to fly an El Al Boeing 737 flight simulator

By Jake Epstein

An illustrative image of an Atlas craft (Courtesy)

March 16, 2021, 1:13 pm

Not a bird, not a plane: Startup hopes to hit skies with ‘eco-friendly’ blimps

Israel-based Atlas LTA seeks to build luxury dirigibles for tourists, bringing new tech to traditional crafts and aiming at zero carbon footprint

By Jake Epstein

Israeli Jews and Palestinians talk to each other, during a weekly meeting organized by Ali Abu Awwad, a Palestinian from the West Bank, on July 22, 2015. (Nati Shohat/Flash90)

March 11, 2021, 10:50 am

Israeli-Palestinian peacebuilders prepare for $250m US government injection

The Middle East Partnership for Peace Act, passed by US Congress in December, provides seed funding over five years to boost reconciliation initiatives

By Jake Epstein

Left to right: Eyal Biram, Ilan Hazam, Norah Alawadi and Ahmed Elmansuri, pose for a photo as part of the first formal visit of the Leaders of Tomorrow initiative in Dubai last November (Courtesy)

March 9, 2021, 1:12 pm

In hackathon, hopes of new ties between young Israelis and Arab peers

‘The First Abraham Accords Virtual Social Hackathon,’ to be held in late March, will see students and professionals from Israel, Bahrain, Morocco and the UAE brainstorm together

By Jake Epstein

Illustrative image of a medical team performing surgery in an operating room. (jacoblund; iStock by Getty Images)

February 23, 2021, 10:56 am

By bringing AI to surgeries, startup hopes to close knowledge gaps

Theator, based in Palo Alto with an R&D site in Tel Aviv, raises $15.5 million in a Series A funding round to grow its surgical intelligence platform

By Jake Epstein

A bus in the UK, protected with the Aura Air filters (Courtesy)

February 18, 2021, 9:36 am

As COVID turns indoors toxic, purification startup sells a breath of fresh air

Aura Air says its devices, released during the pandemic, can disinfect 99.9% of viruses and bacteria

By Jake Epstein

Israelis wearing face mask for fear of the coronavirus are seen in public transport in Jerusalem on March 17, 2020. (Yossi Zamir/Flash90)

February 14, 2021, 1:52 pm

Israeli startup aims to bid farewell to late, empty buses

Tel Aviv-based Operatti looks to build a ‘smart public transportation’ app that will send vehicles of just the right size to pick up travelers on set routes, on demand

By Jake Epstein

Protective face masks hang on an abandonded boat in the Tel Aviv-Jaffa port on October 28, 2020. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

January 7, 2021, 3:46 pm

Cleantech startup UBQ converts used face masks into ecofriendly material

Potentially harmful to the environment when not disposed of properly, single-use PPE can be put to use, along with other waste, by Israeli firm

By Jake Epstein

Basil Hawari (left) and Afaf Shehab, co-founders of Petwork (Courtesy)

January 4, 2021, 12:44 pm

Pets, jewelry, streaming: Meet the Hybrid accelerator’s Arab Israeli startups

6-month program seeks to propel fledgling Arab entrepreneurs into Israel’s vibrant startup ecosystem, to boost diversity in tech and tap into new sources of talent

By Jake Epstein

An illustrative image of a man talking on a smartphone (fizkes, iStock by Getty Images)

December 21, 2020, 4:06 pm

Social media, meet your past: This startup wants to bring back phone calls

Developer Avi Lieberman hopes his Pattr app will allow ‘old-fashioned’ social network, where people can talk to friends and make new ones

By Jake Epstein

Richard Hsu, Marketing VP, Karma Medical Devices, left to right; Ken Chen, Product Trainer, Karma Medical Devices; Kenny Chen, CEO, Karma Medical Devices; Efrat Shenhod-Malihi, Founder & CEO, ReSymmetry; Eitan Yanuv, Business Development, ReSymmetry;
Jill Ho, Director, Innovation to Industry (i2i) (Courtesy)

December 16, 2020, 1:22 pm

Israeli startup, Taiwan firm to make ‘smart chair’ for people with disabilities

ReSymmetry and Taiwanese manufacturing firm Karma Medical Devices plan to produce a robotic seating system that uses AI to match chair’s seating position to its user

By Jake Epstein

Start-Up Nation Central CEO Eugene Kandel, left, and Omar bin Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence of the United Arab Emirates in a virtual conversation on December 2, 2020 (Courtesy)

December 6, 2020, 3:05 pm

UAE minister says joint ventures with Israel in AI sector are ‘undeniable need’

Speaking at a virtual conference, UAE’s minister for artificial intelligence says data-rich UAE could serve as testbed for Israeli tech

By Jake Epstein

Zencity offices in Tel Aviv. (courtesy/Zencity)

November 29, 2020, 12:27 pm

Tel Aviv’s Zencity wins international award for ‘pioneering’ smart city project

Startup uses AI to help local governments make data-driven decisions based on communities’ needs; Smart City Expo World Congress prize was in Governance and Economy category

By Jake Epstein