AI-powered nutrition solution wins Yazamiyot competition for women-led startups
The company anydish took the top spot in a women-led startup competition focused on supporting female entrepreneurship in Israel’s south following 7/10. The event, organized by Yazamiyot, Arieli Capital, and Mastercard’s FinSec, included a competition between five startups, with innovations focusing on real-time ultrasound diagnosis and alternative protein-rich foods.
AI-based nutrition startup anydish was the big winner of a competition for women-led startups with a connection to southern Israel. The event was organized by Yazamiyot, an organization that promotes female entrepreneurship, Arieli Capital, and Mastercard’s innovation lab FinSec to support women-led startups in the wake of October 7. It was held at Microsoft's offices in Be'er Sheva, with 120 female entrepreneurs in attendance.
Founded by CEO Orly Rapapor, VP Business Development Michal Kahan, CTO Richard Thorne, and Menashe Rothschild, anydish aims to ease dietary restrictions for patients by translating nutritional guidelines into personalized menus using AI, simplifying the process and making it accessible.
"The app we developed allows individuals with specific diets to easily simplify the nutritional guidelines they receive. Through AI and personalization, they can almost instantly receive a fully customized menu tailored to them, and even evaluate if a specific dish offered in a restaurant suits them," say Kahan and Rapaport. They told Calcalist that anydish is nearing the end of fundraising. “Anyone who is interested in making a change regarding personalized nutrition should reach out to us.”
Second place in the competition was claimed by the startup Aisap, an AI solution for real-time diagnosis, interpretation, storing, and reporting of ultrasound studies at the point of care. Aisap was founded by Prof. Ehud Raanani, Director of the Lev Cardiovascular and Thoracic Center at Sheba Medical Center, Dr. Robert Klempner, and Adiel Am-Shalom.
According to CEO Roni Attali, "Often those performing ultrasound tests are doctors who are not specialists in this area, and are required to make crucial decisions, which can have life-altering consequences." The application provides doctors with real-time information on whether an ultrasound image is good quality and conducts a diagnosis of the condition.
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"Currently, our application is used for mapping the heart, but we are working on a significant expansion so that it will be more vascular (covering veins, arteries, etc.)," says Attali. According to her, during the war, the company's technology assisted in conducting ultrasound tests for soldiers injured in Gaza, after an army doctor used some of the company's devices in the field. One of the investors in the company is former Mossad chief Tamir Pardo.
Third place in the competition went to startup Kinoko, which seeks to grow the next generation of alternative, sustainable, tasty, and protein-rich food. According to CEO and Co-founder Jasmin Ravid, Kinoko developed technology that allows the cultivation and fermentation of mushrooms. "During fermentation, there is an increase in protein and a decrease in carbohydrates," she explains. The result: a raw material with superfood characteristics and a rich umami taste that can be grown anywhere, without environmental limitations in a sustainable manner.
Validit.ai, which provides user verification of digital statements to prevent fraud, also participated in the event. According to Co-Founder and CEO Avivit Yorkevitch, the startup developed technology that identifies cases of fraud by analyzing users' physiological data via a smartphone’s camera.
Another participant in the competition was AI-based HR solution I-VERSE, founded by CEO Shira Spetter, which aims to revolutionize the employee recruitment process through avatar-based assessment tools. The assessment process of each candidate relies on AI and allows the company to cut recruitment time and costs by 70% and increase matching chances by 90%.
Competition judges included Noa Tamir, CEO of Calcalist; Neta Zruya-Hashai, CEO of Phoenix-ESOP; Dana Gavish-Fridman, founder of Yazamut 360 at Ben-Gurion University; Hadar Siterman Norris, Partner at Team8 Capital; Inbar Haham, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at INcapital Ventures; Shomrat Shurtz, Senior Director of Business Development at the Israel Innovation Authority; Calanit Wolfer, Founding and Managing Partner at the Elah Fund; Dr. Tal Tirosh, Partner at Amit, Pollak, Matalon & Co. law firm; Reuma Galisko Cohen, CEO of Ye’Adim - Municipal Company For Business And Economic Development, Be'Er Sheva; Orit Stav, Managing Partner at Israel Innovation Partners; and Rony Laufer from Lamed Holdings.
