Israel’s 10 Startup World Cup 2021 finalists are revealed

The final 10 candidates for the annual Startup World Cup have been announced, bringing them one step closer to competing in the global startup competition for aspiring entrepreneurs. The regional winner, who will be announced later this month, will represent Israel and have the chance to win a $1 million investment from its creator, Pegasus Tech Ventures.

The Startup World Cup is currently operating locally with the help of Tech It Forward, an Israel-based tech consulting and event agency. The Israeli winner will compete against startups from all over the world and a global winner will be announced in November 2021. In total, seven judges from VCs, investment houses, and law firms had interviewed 58 of the 100 applicants, with 42 not passing the initial filtering process.

We are very excited about the event,” Jennifer Elias, Tech It Forward’s Co-founder told CTech. “It was really hard for everyone to (make) decisions, and we believe that the finalists represent well the trends of the coming year.”

According to Elias, the organization is now rehearsing for the final that’s taking place in January, which will be streamed on Zoom and Facebook Live.

The 10 finalists who are taking part are as follows:

• Hargol FoodTech - which specializes in growing large quantities of grasshoppers in captivity as an alternative protein source.
  

• SensePass - which developers SensePay, an enterprise-grade payment technology designed to execute seamless payments through secured IoT communications.
  

• RobotAI - which develops AI-based software transforming cameras into 3D measurement devices.
  

• Dealtale - which focuses on solving the problem of siloed data in digital-based organizations that have adopted numerous SaaS tools, each with its own set of analytics and reporting.
  

• i-BrainTech - which has developed an AI-powered brain-training solution designed to enhance the KPIs of individual athletes and to empower coaches using innovative neuro sports insights.
  

• ARpalus - which is a retail tech company that helps CPG and retailers better execute their in-store operations thanks to Augmented Reality.
  

• Matricelf - which develops a technology enabling the production of autologous engineered tissue composed of matrix and cells derived from patients’ omental biopsies, and recently won Calcalist’s own Startup+ innovation competition.
  

• Pika - which develops products to end the use of plastic by using circular economy concepts. The company is currently developing a machine that cleans reusable diapers in one step.
  

• Serenus.AI - which develops solutions to improve healthcare delivery and patient outcomes. The company’s technology helps medical professionals and patients make better medical decisions at the post-diagnostic stage to save lives and valuable resources.
  

• ExoProTher - which is developing a novel approach to cancer treatment.
  

The original final date was supposed to be May 2021, but this was quickly postpoined due to Covid-19. It is a priority for the Pegasus Ventures team that all finalists - who will be flying to Silicon Valley from Israel and around the world - will appear for the final in-person and not virtually. Pegasus Tech Ventures investor and Manager of Startup World Cup, Noah Leshan, told CTech in December that the May date could be pushed back until Covid-19 vaccines are “globally and commercially distributed to 50% of the population.”

EDITOR UPDATE: an earlier version of this story had the finale date as May 2021. This has since been changed.