The Startup World Cup, an international competition that recognizes promising companies from across the world, is making its debut in Israel and is on the hunt for startups that will hopefully compete at the Grande Finale next year for a chance to win USD 1 million.
The competition began earlier this year, with over 50 regional contests, and the Israeli chapter is currently vetting applicants. Ten Israeli finalists are expected to be announced in early January 2021 and a pitching event is set to take place later that month.
Pandemic restrictions permitting, ten finalists selected from among all regional winners are expected to head to San Francisco in May 2021 for the finale.
The Startup World Cup is an annual competition created by Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm Pegasus Tech Ventures, investors in companies such as SpaceX, Airbnb, Bird, App Annie. The competition is run with local regional partners and, in Israel, Tech It Forward, a boutique consulting and tech events agency, is operating the event locally and remotely.
“It’s a huge honor for us at Tech It Forward to be chosen by Pegasus Tech Ventures in Israel to partner and launch for the first time the Startup World Cup here,” said Jennifer Elias, co-founder of Tech It Forward. “This is the beginning of a very exciting relationship, and it’s a chance for us to keep helping Israeli startups to go global, raise strategic funding and create partnerships with other ecosystems, especially during these times.”
Judges for the local competition will include Bill Reichert, partner at Pegasus Tech Ventures; Roy Caner, a senior partner and head of the high-tech division at the EBN&Co law firm; Tal Dori, CEO of IBI Capital; Delia Pekelman, the deputy head at Leumitech; Michal Michaeli, director of international economic development at Tel Aviv Global; Uria Fiano, a serial entrepreneur and Tech It Forward board member; and Snir Hassidim, corporate and business development at Checkpoint Software.
The screening committee will select ten startups that will pitch in the Israeli competition. Before the pitching night in January, the top ten startups will enjoy professional guidance and one-on-one meetings with Israeli experts, legal consultants, financial advisors, and marketing strategists to prepare for their presentations. The application deadline for startups is December 7, 2020.
This article first appeared in NoCamels, which covers innovations from Israel for a global audience.