TAU launches Pears Challenge in international development

The Pears Program for Innovation and International Development at Tel Aviv University’s Hartog School of Government and Policy has launched the Pears Challenge, a competition for Israeli entrepreneurs that will provide training and support over a three-month period for innovators of international development. Its scope covers agriculture, water, health, renewable energy, education and information technology.

The deadline to apply to the program – which is open to researchers, entrepreneurs, NGOs and businesses with up to 100 employees – is March 31, 2014.

“The fast-growing demand for tech in these fields is in the developing world, so there’s more and more opportunities for Israelis to move into these fields. Additionally, this program offers a chance for truly satisfying, meaningful work that can bring about a real change for people in need,” said Dr. Aliza Belman Inbal, director of the program. 

The annual competition will launch this Wednesday at the Google Campus in Tel Aviv, where experts will discuss the needs and challenges in the fields and potential applicants can brainstorm and team up. The teams will be taught how to do business in developing countries, put together a business plan and start working on their products.

At the end of the challenge one team will win a 10-day trip to launch a pilot for their product in a developing country.

Dr. Inbal hopes the new competitions will push Israeli innovators and young entrepreneurs to start thinking of developing markets as sources of opportunity, rather than constantly looking to the US, Western Europe and other developed countries. "Africa, Asia and Latin America have enormous potential and we need to raise people's awareness of that in Israel," she said.