"Government needs to create an environment that allows women to succeed"

An egg made from vegetable protein, an AI system for the treatment and early detection of autoimmune diseases, and a platform that helps people sell and buy small and medium-sized businesses were the three ideas developed by women-led startups that were chosen to participate in Calcalist's Mind the Tech London conference. The announcement of the winners was revealed at an event by Yazamiyot - Women Entrepreneurs held this week at the headquarters of Amazon's cloud division, AWS, in Tel Aviv.

At the beginning of the event, Kemi Badenoch, Secretary of State for Business and Trade in the UK Government and President of the Board of Trade and Minister for Women and Equalities, who is visiting Israel this week, said: "My two roles make people ask why I do both," she said. "The reality is that there is a connection between them. Women and girls are at the forefront of Britain's technology development strategy. We want to break down all the barriers that prevent women from reaching their full potential. A level playing field brings more jobs, increases wages and grows the economy. You help increase not only the GDP of Israel but also the global GDP.

MP Kemi Badenoch

"Among women there is a lot of unrealized potential that could become the next Facebook. It takes a lot to be an entrepreneur. It's easier to be employed by someone else, like me who works in the government. Being an entrepreneur is very difficult and I take my hat off to you. A government needs to create the environment that allows women to succeed. A good environment leads to a more prosperous future. Statistics tell us that for every pound of venture capital invested in startups in the UK, women-led businesses received less than one penny. Last year we launched a task force to increase the number of women-led businesses, and we support entrepreneurship. We will do everything we can to create an enabling environment, and then we will step aside to allow you to do what you do best."

The centerpiece of the evening, held in collaboration with the VC Club of the British Embassy in Israel and the Women Landing Innovation Network, was a startup competition led by women. First place in the competition was won by Zero Egg, which produces eggs based on vegetable protein that can replace animal eggs in every common use. "In millions of homes and restaurants all over the world, people use eggs for every meal and in all types of dishes," said co-founder Liron Nimrodi. "A trillion eggs are sold every year, most of them are produced in a cruel and unsustainable way. This is an industry that is desperate for a solution, and there is a huge opportunity there. We make eggs from plant protein. Customers in the U.S. are already using our product for baking, making omelettes, everything you can do with an egg from a chicken. After eight years of science, we cracked the egg code, and our product has zero cholesterol and far fewer calories."

The company's product is being used in several restaurant chains in the U.S. and will soon enter Costco's house brand as well as Japan. The company expects revenues of $2.4 million this year.

Second place went to Predicta Med. According to co-founder Shlomit Steinberg-Koch: "50 million Americans suffer from autoimmune diseases, and their treatment reaches more than $100 billion a year. It is difficult for a doctor to link specific symptoms to the disease. Our artificial intelligence-based system allows doctors to get immediate insights about symptoms the patient reports and make treatment decisions quickly while taking into account the patient's overall health condition with full transparency on how the algorithm works."

A joint study conducted by the company with Maccabi Health Services and clinics showed a clear improvement in the quality of care. In the future, the company will launch a product that will enable early detection of autoimmune diseases.

The third place winner, Boosst, developed a platform for selling and buying small businesses. "I grew up with parents who owned two small businesses," said co-founder Gal Barzilay. "When they wanted to retire, they couldn't find anyone to continue their company. This is the problem I wanted to solve. In the coming years, $10 trillion worth of small businesses owned by baby boomers will be looking for a new owner. Boosst allows business owners to assess how much a small or medium-sized business is worth by connecting to their business system, and creates an online market for buyers looking to purchase such a business. We provide the entire service at no cost, and only take a 5% commission from completed transactions. Selling and buying businesses is complex and requires knowledge. We will make the process accessible and easy."

All three winning companies will receive a flight ticket and be participants in Calcalist’s Mind the Tech conference in London, which will be held on March 21.