PROJECTS

Smart-X

The Kaizen Company implemented the Smart-X project in Israel and the West Bank between September 2014 and September 2016. The project used start-up entrepreneurship as a vehicle to create mutually beneficial cross-border cooperation between Palestinians and Israelis. Kaizen supported the formation and growth of ten jointly funded Israeli-Palestinian start-up ventures through awareness-raising, matchmaking, networking, and business acceleration activities. The success of these start-up companies has served as a catalyst for reducing the social distance between the two sides and is providing successes that are already forming the basis of communications and outreach campaigns for other entrepreneurs and their communities.

Kaizen’s approach consisted of three steps. The first step involved entrepreneur trust-building and matchmaking, including outreach by leveraging existing networks and initiatives. Selected participants took part in a two-day matchmaking event, where mixed Palestinian and Israeli entrepreneurs collaborated on a presentation. The second step of the process was the business plan competition, which incentivized dialogue, mutual understanding, and entrepreneurial partnership, leading to scalable company concepts. The last component of the project focused on business acceleration and support of the selected startups, such as seed funding and tailored guidance for launching and growing the businesses. All ten co-founded start-ups graduated from the Accelerator program in May 2016, the culmination of which was a Demo Day for potential investors and members of the Smart-X network along both sides of the Green Line and beyond. Among this initial cohort, several of the more mature businesses are already attracting investment, both in the region and internationally, while others have begun securing private clients and are conducting formal business; one is even a now successful USAID grantee on a West Bank project.