Palestine
Palestine
“We are seeing a whole new wave of Palestinian entrepreneurs who understand the regional and international markets and what it takes to penetrate them, despite how young the Palestinian ecosystem is and the many challenges the entrepreneurs face.”
Highlights
Despite a challenging regional and global context, Palestine continues to nurture its nascent startup ecosystem. In January 2023, regional business leaders committed to support Palestinian economic resilience as an important building block to open new pathways to a two-state solution.
VC firm Ibtikar announced the close of a $15 million fund in January 2022 and has already invested $1.4 million in three startups founded by Palestinians. In December 2022, Intersect Innovation Hub and SPARK launched a new program to support Palestinian entrepreneurs. Gaza Sky Geeks is a tech hub housing tech upskilling, coworking spaces, and a startup accelerator. The Gaza Code Academy is a joint project of Gaza Sky Geeks and Founders & Coders. The GSG Freelance Academy is a training program in online freelancing, social media, and professional English. The Startup Program focuses on digitizing services and business models across Palestine.
In March 2022, Startups Without Borders together with Meta launched Boost Without Borders, a program aimed at supporting 500 entrepreneurs, building the capacity of support organizations, and providing $100,000 in grants for startups. The Palestinian Mentorship Program matches Palestinian entrepreneurs with global experts to build bridges between Palestine’s ecosystem and markets abroad. The Factory 4.0 Accelerator provides matchmaking with corporate partners, mentoring, a state-of-the-art fabrication lab, and seed money. Founder Institute Palestine 2023 will kick off in August. The Palestine CleanTech Innovation Competition concluded in January 2022. The winners will participate in the Global Cleantech Innovation Program in Silicon Valley. The IGNITE Investment Readiness Program prepares ambitious Palestinian startups to raise equity investment.
Ecosystem by the Numbers
Sub-Sector Strengths
Fintech
The Palestine Monetary Authority introduced its Fintech Regulatory Sandbox in March 2022. GIZ and SANAD TAF launched a Fintech for a Future accelerator program targeting the cross-border Fintech ecosystem between Palestine and Jordan. In October 2022, the Palestine Capital Market Authority (PCMA) launched the Insurtech Wizard Challenge. PCMA also partnered with open innovation firm Fintech Galaxy to create the Insurtech Wizard Hackathon. Both initiatives are aimed at advancing financial inclusion in Palestine.
Edtech
Palestine’s numerous Edtech startups include Jeel Code, which teaches kids to code in Arabic; coaching platform Coachwhizz; and Hessa, which connects students and tutors. EdTech Hub provides workshops and programs. In March 2022, the World Bank approved an eight-year program to address key education challenges in Palestine. With $20 million in funding already approved, the program aims to improve education outcomes and increase pathways leading to tertiary education.
Life Sciences
Palestine’s Life Sciences startups include telemedicine companies Tebfact and Tanaffas, appointment-booking system Doctor On Time, and startups focused on the prevention of chronic diseases like Wikaya and Dawsat. Jerusalem-based SynergyMed is developing non-surgical cancer treatments. In September, healthtech startup AlRazi won the Startups Without Borders pitch competition, held in partnership with Meta.
Reasons to Move Your Startup to Palestine
Local Connectedness
The Palestinian ecosystem benefits from a strong sense of community, both locally and internationally and particularly in MENA and the U.S. The Palestinian government created the Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Empowerment (MoEE) to help catalyze the growth of the ecosystem, and its Palestinian Entrepreneurship Cluster brings together Palestine’s support organizations. The NEXUS program supports Palestinian firms that are ready to expand into new markets.
Skilled Talent
Palestinians are highly literate, well-educated, and many have a high level of English. Universities in Palestine produce more than 4,000 STEM graduates annually, about 1,000 of whom go on to work for outsourced international companies. In February 2022, Google announced a $10 million Arabic-language training program in mobile and cloud/AI app development. Google and its partners will provide mentorship, organize job fairs, and provide grants for access to incubators, among other benefits.
Dedicated Support
Adopted in March 2022, the Companies Law modernizes and simplifies the business-registration process. The draft Start-up Act is intended to provide a simplified business-registration process for startups. Flow Accelerator Map and Polaris, from Intersect Accelerator and the Bank of Palestine, provide data on digital businesses in Palestine. SPARK and its partners deliver skills training for youth to access remote and digital job opportunities in Palestine and globally.
Explore more ecosystems
Get connected
Are you interested in diving deeper into this ecosystem? Drop us a message. Our Ambassadors and Partners can plug you in.