Get a chance to win
Israeli Companies
100K NIS
funding for a desert pilot
Learn
about the growing desert needs and co-design your pilot with desert experts
British Companies
20K GBP
funding for a desert pilot
Connect
with relevant stakeholders and markets from the DeserTech ecosystem, in Israel and worldwide
The Merage DeserTech Competition
Negev - Your gateway to arid markets
The Merage DeserTech Competition is a flagship annual event, designed to accelerate innovative technologies to address global desert challenges.
As climate change hits more areas of the world, there is an acute need to adapt and build resilience to arid climates: adapt our energy systems, agriculture practices, how we build, and how we treat and manage water.
We invite you - Israeli and British startups - to test and develop your solution in the Negev desert - the ultimate beta site for adapting your technology to an increasingly arid world. UK agri-tech centre Agri-EPI and Innovate UK are supporting UK tech companies to participate in this great opportunity.
If it works here, it works everywhere!
Connect with leading research institutes, farmers and experts, and plan a fruitful collaboration to prove your technology is relevant in arid climates!
01
Connect with a Negev-based partner
02
Co-design a pilot that can adapt your solutions to arid markets
03
Submit your pilot proposal
Who can Participate
Startups from the UK and Israel operating in the fields of water, renewable energy, agriculture, and infrastructure sectors, with a solution that could address global desert challenges of:
Extreme Climate
Water Scarcity
& Availability
Land Degradation
Remote & Marginal Living
TImeline
September 7th
Preparation workshop for Negev resources - Beer Sheva
October 10th
Matchmaking - Online
1:1 to connect with the best Negev partners
November 28th
Finalists Announcement
December 20th
Final Event - Beer Sheva // Hybrid
September 13th
Competition Kick Off - Beer Sheva// Hybrid
Connect with relevant partners, and get all the information you need to apply
November 19th
Applications close
December 13th
Pitching Workshop for finalists - Beer Sheva// Hybrid
Pitching and Live Winner Announcement!
The winning Pilot will be selected according to
Relevance to global desert needs
01
Innovation and Prominence of technology
02
Scalability potential
03
Judging Committee
Shahar Cohen
Investment Manager
Q Fund
Hila Hillary Katz
Investment Analyst
Good Company
Yaniv Izaki
Angel Investor
Izaki Ventures
Gili Elkin
Managing Director
ICI Fund
Vanessa Kacherginsky
CEO
The Israeli Forum for Impact Economy
Ido Fishler
Managing Partner
Good Company
Itamar Weitzman
Partner and Head of Climate Tech
First time VC
Bruce Gurfein
CEO
Connect LLC and Abdullah Al Naboodah investment
Gil Horsky
Founding Partner
FLORA Ventures
DeserTech is an Innovation Community that promotes the development, adaptation and commercialization of technologies that enable sustainable living in arid climates, while simultaneously, turning Be'er Sheva and the Negev region into a global entrepreneurial hub for these technologies.
The DeserTech community is a joint initiative of the Merage Foundation Israel, the Israel Innovation Institute, The Ministry of Environmental Protection and Ben Gurion University.
In partnership with:
Agri- EPI is part of the UK Government’s Agri-Tech Strategy. At the Agri-EPI Centre we are one of four Agri-Tech Centres bridging the gap between industry and academia across the agri-food sector in the UK and globally.
As the go-to enabler, we work with businesses, scientists and engineers to turn their ideas into new products and services that will generate economic growth and help tackle the global issues of sustainability and feeding the world.
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