Merage Institute website

Entrepreneurs'
Competition

REGISTER NOW !!

Registration deadline: March 15, 2023

Our vision

Helping and supporting Israeli entrepreneurs above the age of 45 or women at any age to get significant exposure, recognition and funding that they need.

About the Competition

The Merage 45+ invites entrepreneurs with innovative ideas to a unique program with a 100K$ grant for the leading startup.

In the last couple of years, we have seen an increasing number of entrepreneurs over the age of 45, with rich backgrounds from leading companies, taking the next step in their career and turn to the startups arena.

While women are founding innovative startups more than ever before, yet only 10% of investor money worldwide goes to women-founded startups.

Our unique program is intended to encourage and support those entrepreneurs to develop unique ventures/technologies into a promising successful business.

Each of the finalists will receive personalized coaching to prepare them for the actual pitching competition as well as:
Access to workshops, knowledge sessions, networking events, mentoring and media exposure.

First prize:

100K$ GRAND PRIZE

(a) one hundred thousand US dollars to be used for the initial financing of the winning project according to the business plan.

(b) automatic acceptance into the prestigious Merage Institute Innovation Bridge Program in California (all expenses paid; flights are excluded).

Second - Fifth Prizes

Automatic acceptance into the prestigious Merage Institute Innovation Bridge Program in California. (all program related expenses in California are covered; flights are excluded).

 

2023 program

The Competition Structure

The competition will hold a few stages as follows:
Stage 1 - Registration and Application submission (January 15 - March 15, 2023): At the end of this stage the board will select promising projects that will progress to the next stage.

Stage 2 - 20 Selected: startups to be announced.

Stage 3 - Pitching event: Five teams will be selected for the Final Competition after the pitching event.

Stage 4 - The Final Competition (On September 2023): The 5 finalists will present their project to a Board of Judges and to the audience (5 minutes presentation each), followed by Q&A with the judges.

Stage 5 - Mentoring: To prepare for the roadshow, the top 5 startups selected by the Competition Board will be offered a mentoring program.

The winner will be determined by the judges and audience (Merage Fellows, investors, advisors); the finalist with the highest score will win the first prize ($100,000 USD).

The prize will be presented to the winner by Mr. Paul Merage.

The Competing Projects:
There is no restriction on the type of projects participating in the competition. Any project from any field that meets the conditions of the competition is suitable for the submission of a proposal in the competition.

Prizes

First Prize: $ 100,000 - (a) one hundred thousand US dollars to be used for the initial financing of the winning project according to the business plan.
(b) automatic acceptance into the prestigious Merage Institute Innovation Bridge Program in California (all expenses paid; flights are excluded). Read More

Second and fifth Prizes: automatic acceptance into the prestigious Merage Institute Innovation Bridge Program in California (all program related expenses in California are covered; flights are excluded). Read More

Admission Terms

1. Competitors age 45 and over Or startup is led by a woman (at any age) that holds above 50% of the shares. - If a group of entrepreneurs is involved then at least one entrepreneur meets this condition.

2. Or startup is led by woman that hold above 50% of the shares.

3. The competing projects – joint venture/ applied research idea/ innovative technology has viable commercial potential.

4. The project has not been awarded financing in the past (whether self-financed or by a third party) in an amount exceeding $1 million (one million US dollars).

5. Ownership of the project belongs to the competing entrepreneur/s (thus the competition is not suitable for employees of universities/ research institutes/ civil servants, etc. if the intellectual property of the project belongs to their employers). A declaration to this effect is to be made as part of the registration form.

6. Completion and filing of all the documents and terms of registration - click here

Advantages

First prize of the winner - $100,000 (to be used for the initial finance of the business plan).

The five projects receiving the highest scores will be granted with a right to participate in the prestigious Merage Innovation Bridge Business Leadership program in California (all program related expenses in California are covered flights are excluded).

A supportive framework for the preparation of a business plan with the participation of the best experts in the relevant fields and professional advisers.

Exposure of various projects both at the mentoring stage and on the competition day, to important entities such as the venture capital industry, investors, strategic partners, customers.

Register

First date for registration: January 15.
Registration must be completed before March 15.

Congratulations to our 2022
1st Place Winner and 100K Grand Prize

Social Mind Autism 
Keren Sagiv Friedgut 

2022 Winner

Congratulations to our 3 finalists who did an outstanding job in the competition!

2nd Prize Winner: 
Strasa.Tech – Ori Gonen
3rd Prize Winner:
EXOSOMM – Netta Granot
Fan Favorite:
Little One – Ami Meoded

2022 Digital Brochure

We sincerely applaud each of you who took the time to submit your amazing ideas; the submissions exceeded all expectations. The idea of this competition was to stimulate the Entrepreneurial Spirit, regardless of gender or age. Because of all of you, the competition was a huge success! From Paul Merage & all of us at the Merage Institute, we sincerely thank you.

Congratulations to our 2021
1st Place Winner and 100K Grand Prize

Sharkbitt
Jenny Chernobelsky & Omer Holzinger

Congratulations to our 4 finalists who did an outstanding job in the competition!

2nd Prize Winner & Fan Favorite: 
Maolac - Yuval Appelbaum & Maya Ashkenazi
3rd Prize Winner:
Embie - Ravid Israel
4th Prize Winner:
Applied ML - Hanan Hefter

Full Video  2021 Digital Brochure

We sincerely applaud each of you who took the time to submit your amazing ideas; the submissions exceeded all expectations. The idea of this competition was to stimulate the Entrepreneurial Spirit, regardless of gender or age. Because of all of you, the competition was a huge success! From Paul Merage & all of us at the Merage Institute, we sincerely thank you.

Congratulations to our 2020
1st Place Winner and 100K Grand Prize

NuTek
Dov Cohen

Congratulations to our 5 finalists who did an outstanding job in the competition!

2nd Prize Winner: 
EggBryo - Ariel Popper
3rd Prize Winner:
Lamu - Adi Seifert
Fan Favorite Winner:
CogniShape - Daniela Aisenberg, Oren Meir
5th Prize Winner:
Cynomi - David Primor

2020 Digital Brochure

We sincerely applaud each of you who took the time to submit your amazing ideas; the submissions exceeded all expectations. The idea of this competition was to stimulate the Entrepreneurial Spirit, regardless of age. Because of all of you, the competition was a huge success!
We thank you.

Congratulations to our 2019
1st place winner and 100k grand prize

Neurotrigger Ltd
Assaf Deutsch

2019 Winner

Congratulations to our 5 finalists who did an outstanding job in the competition!

2nd Prize Winner:
SynergyMed Ltd
3rd Prize Winner:
Clanz
4th Prize Winner:
Diagnoz.me
5th Prize Winner:
Airy

We sincerely applaud each of you who took the time to submit your amazing ideas; the submissions exceeded all expectations. The idea of this competition was to stimulate the Entrepreneurial Spirit, regardless of age.
Because of all of you, the competition was a huge success!
We thank you.

Congratulations to our 2018
1st place winner and 100k grand prize

Curiosity Robotic
Yaron Ball and Sherry Perlov

2018 Winner

Congratulations to our 5 finalists who did an outstanding job in the competition!

2nd Prize Winner / Ze'ev Fine and Ofer Shamay - Chesstories

Tamar Merhav – Wallyz
Ofer Weinberg – Tweexit
Michal Magen and Rafi Chen - Indorse
Yigal Elharar – Livetrip ( Popular Vote )

We sincerely applaud each of you who took the time to submit your amazing ideas; the submissions exceeded all expectations. The idea of this competition was to stimulate the Entrepreneurial Spirit, regardless of age.
Because of all of you, the competition was a huge success!
We thank you.

Congratulations to our 2017
45+ competition & student winners

2017 Winners

45+ Competition Winners:

1. SensePD - Software company in the digital health market offering a solution for early diagnosis of autism. Raffi Rembrand, Kobie Cohen, Assaf Gur, Prof. Ditza Zachor, Prof. Doron Urbach, Dr. Michal Begin, Prof. Eitan Kimmel
2. MindsEye - Provides assistance in diagnosis and monitoring of ADHD and other mental disorders using Pupillometry Biomarkers. Ophir Atar, Anat Barnea, Boaz Brill, Sam Zatelman.
3. Append Medical - Developing a device to prevent stroke. Dr. Leonid Sternik, Oded Meiri, Zachi Berger.

TrekAce - a patented wearable tactile monitor, packed with applications and technologies, that transforms traditional forms of communication into intuitive tactile language. Ronen Gabbay, Eliaz Hashdi, Tamir Konortov, Nir Dafni.
Pension Compass - Online information system that provides customers actual monetary saving by constantly monitoring their status in reaction to changes in their working and personal life. Abrahan Zvi Barak, Gad Shavit, Orit Nir, Yitzhak Dvir.
cMeSafe - innovative autonomous personal safety solution that wholly independently identifies when a user is encountering a distressful situation and automatically calls for help. Dr. Gideon Meiry.

Student Winners:

1. SmartAir - personal device that predicts and prevents asthma attacks. Uriel Klar, Nimrod Partush
2. Fun42 - O2 enables better intimacy and sexual pleasure through technology and innovation. Hila Gadot, Naor Penso
3. Xenia - Intelligent design platform that automatically generates optimal store layouts in real time. Shmulik Bilgoray, Dr. Efi Fogel, Hila Goldenberg

TypeIt - a platform that teaches literacy, spelling and keyboard typing through a musical game experience. Asaf Fadida, Nave Ohana, Revital Hollander
Canvas Earth - Create and share digital art in augmented reality. Jonathan Ataria, Ori Shapira, Nitzan Hadar, Tal Avinari
Poney - Application built to manage children's pocket money using an app and a credit card. Ido Shechter, Itzik ben nun, Tal Cohen, Abed Zaitun
Billbear - Monitors bills, splits them between roomates, pays them automatically. Amir Fuerst, Ben Tlusty, Niv Pulver
Blind-Tech - Wearable system based on the sharp senses of the visually impaired. Omer Gohari, Or Gafni, Aviram Berg
Picolo - A smart and unique application which identifies everyone in a photo and is able to share it among them. Moshe Sar Idan, Yossi Saldof, Shaked Chaim, Amir Geller

We sincerely applaud each of you who took the time to submit your amazing ideas; the submissions exceeded all expectations. The idea of this competition was to stimulate the Entrepreneurial Spirit, regardless of age.
Because of all of you, the competition was a huge success!
We thank you.

Congratulations to our 2016
1st place winner and 100k grand prize

iSilla – Movement for people with disabilities
Efrat Shenhod - Malihi, Gani Rami, Danny Shahaf, Dr. Iris Shichor & Dr. Lior Yizhaki

Isilla

Congratulations to our 6 finalists who did an outstanding job in the competition!

2nd Prize Winner / Shmuel Levin -  SonicBone - Bone Age - Ultrasound Device for Bone Age assessment
3rd Prize Winner / Kobi Olin, Danny Gelman, Boris Shvartsev & Prof. Yair Ein-Eli – Inensto - Aluminum Air Battery
Kathie Shefer & Anai Green – ClayPlay - Platform to create applications and games on touch screens
Roy Gurion, Mark Heifets, Alon Buchnik & Dr. Nava Shaked - Onvego - Voice and multi-modal control for app developers
Ravid Roif, Israel Weinereich & Naftali Geffen – SMBIDS - Fintech startup dealing with loans to SMBs based on transaction history
Meny Lev-Sagie, Ahinoam Lev-Sagie & Nimrod Lev - VagX - Point of care microscopy solution for inflammation of the vagina

We sincerely applaud each of you who took the time to submit your amazing ideas; the submissions exceeded all expectations. The idea of this competition was to stimulate the Entrepreneurial Spirit, regardless of age.
Because of all of you, the competition was a huge success!
We thank you.

Congratulations to our 2015
1st place winner and 100k grand prize

AmplioSpeech
Yair Shapira, Ofer Amir & Yoav Medan

AmplioSpeech

Congratulations to our 6 finalists who did an outstanding job in the competition!

2nd Prize Winner / Asa Ziv & Prof. Yoel Sasson -  HySAS – A new Hydrogen Energy Storage
3rd Prize Winner / Dr. Arthur Rabner, Dr. Moshe Ben-David & Michael Belkin – Glasses for AMD Macular Degeneration
Jacob Kaufmann & Serge Goldmann – 3D dental X-Ray imaging
Tal Ben-David & Assaf Harel - PeerSay - Disrupt the way businesses choose products
Shaie Shvartzberg & Mor Shvartzberg – Alto - Allows deaf people to feel and sense the joy of music
Shai Richter - MARPHOBIOS – Medical Auscultation by Remote Bio-Sensing

We sincerely applaud each of you who took the time to submit your amazing ideas; the submissions exceeded all expectations. The idea of this competition was to stimulate the Entrepreneurial Spirit, regardless of age.
Because of all of you, the competition was a huge success!
We thank you.

Congratulations to our 2014
1st place winner and 100k grand prize

OffLA
Dr. Nachshon Margaliot, Ori Einhorn & Yuval Raz

Offla

Congratulations to our 5 finalists who did an outstanding job in the competition!

2nd Prize Winner / Avi Balouka -  PV Optimizer
3rd Prize Winner / Dr. Yoel Arieli & Haim Engler– Progressive Lens
Mike Shaked – Urethral Tech
Dorit Deddi, Efrat Blaier & Ran Zfoni - MMUZE
Dr. Yossi Rosemberg, Mark Funt & Ori Bar-On – Myo

We sincerely applaud each of you who took the time to submit your amazing ideas; the submissions exceeded all expectations. The idea of this competition was to stimulate the Entrepreneurial Spirit, regardless of age.
Because of all of you, the competition was a huge success!
We thank you.

About the Merage Institute

Paul Merage

The Merage Institute’s vision is to promoting trade and bridging Innovation between US and Israel as a vehicle to economic growth in Israel and the United States.

The Institute accomplishes this through a number of innovative initiatives, including specialized Business Leadership Programs for industries that are innovation driven from Israel, where the Institute tries to bridge technologies, research, ideas that can leverage the US and Israel’s biggest advantage – Innovation and by bringing them closer to create economy growth for US and Israel and the rest of the world. At the same time the Institute exposes the US business community to Israeli start-up leaders and vice versa, aiming to strengthen and promote bonding, knowledge exchange and strategic collaborations between the two.

The flag activity, Innovation Bridge Business Leadership Program, consists of an intense two week immersion seminar (for about 20 entrepreneurs) which emphasizes effective approaches to marketing, negotiation, networking and sales strategies, finance, legal and procurement issues in the conduct of business with and within the United States. The program is offered completely with no charge of any kind.

The Institute has done this program since 2005. Today we hold 5 programs a year for Israeli start-ups executives from different industries such as life sciences, BioTech, Medical devices, Pharma, Hi-tech, HLS, NewMedia and Clean Tech. for more information www.merageinstitute.org

© 2021 45+ Entrepreneurs' Competition - A Merage Institute Program