Israel has already been called the Start-Up Nation. Now, 150 young entrepreneurs are taking part in Jerusalem’s first-ever Startup Weekend.
The 54-hour event is taking place at Jerusalem Venture Partners (JVP) Media Labs. The happening is a weekend-long open mic-type conference where young entrepreneurs pitch their ideas and inspire others to join their team.
By the end of the three-day affair the teams must demo their prototypes.
Judges from JVP, Google, Microsoft, the Jerusalem Development Authority and After Docs Angel Fund will choose a winning startup to represent Israel in international competition. There, they will receive $50,000 and present to leading investors.
Other global Startup Weekends taking place this weekend can be found in Glasgow, Catania and Paris.
The Jerusalem event was initiated by Geekmedia, founder of Israeli tech blog Newsgeek.
“Jerusalem has become a high-tech and entrepreneurial hub, so it was important for us to hold the event here,” said Moran Bar, Director of Newsgeek. “Great startups begin with collaborative thinking and teamwork, so we see Startup Weekend as the launching grounds for the next big thing.”