BizTEC, Israel’s premier competition for promising startup ideas, is not for the faint of heart. Participants entering BizTEC have already endured rigorous workshops to hone their idea. They might even have won some tech hackathons. But BizTEC is the ultimate prize.
“BizTEC is one of the best technology programs in Israel.” – Sleem Hasan, a BizTEC investor
Mr. Hasan is a businessman from the United Arab Emirates and attended this year’s final BizTEC event, Demo Day, following the September peace treaty between Israel and the UAE.
Established in 2004 as an internal Technion competition, BizTEC went nationwide and today is Israel’s most sought-after entrepreneurship challenge. Its purpose is to support and promote entrepreneurs who want to develop multidisciplinary deep technologies that can impact diverse applications.
Each year from December through February, Israeli students and university graduates begin the first phase of the competition. During that period, the applicants meet, pair up, attend an “Ideas Night” session, and other events. Of the 100+ participants, 30 teams are chosen to continue. Those semifinalists receive mentorship from leading industry experts in workshops focused on marketing, IP, strategy, and pitching — until the next cut.
In June, just 12 teams pass to the core Summer Program, culminating in BizTEC’s Demo Day. They pitch their ventures to a panel of judges, and the first-place team wins a grand prize of $10,000, which is usually put towards developing the startup. The top three teams also receive additional mentorship to further their projects and are introduced to tech investors. BizTEC graduates have raised more than $750 million in investments through the years, and have launched scores of startups including:
BreezoMeter: a real-time air pollution, weather, and pollen monitoring app
AmplioSpeech: a digital speech therapy service for children and adults
CloudPool: an automated artificial intelligence management platform for organizations using several cloud providers
