10 March 2016
SINGAPORE – AVPN organised an event for our member, Tech For Good, an Israeli organization that empowers and invests in entrepreneurs in technology to solve social issues, on “social-tech” and its latest venture in Singapore – Tech For Good Singapore, at the Google offices in town. The evening began with a short introduction by Ms. Ron Snir, the First Secretary of the Economic and Trade Department of the Embassy of Israel in Singapore followed by presentations by Nir Shimony and Yoav Elgrichi, founder of Tech For Good Israel and co-founder of Tech For Good Singapore, respectively.
Snir began by highlighting Israel’s multi-sector innovation ecosystem that promotes a conducive environment for start-ups and entrepreneurship, which has led Israel to become a technology pioneer across sectors such as agriculture, healthcare, and transportation. This resulted in a social-tech ecosystem that, as pointed out by Shimony from Tech For Good, provides a supportive network for early-stage entrepreneurs.
Tech For Good plays a key role in supporting entrepreneurs with the expertise and funding needed by providing 1) acceleration programs, a four month long program backed by leading Israel corporations that offers mentorship to social entrepreneurs, 2) education in the form of open, weekly meet-ups and networking events that are made available to the public, and 3) funding in the form of Tech For Good Capital, an early stage investment arm, that aims to become an international impact investment fund that specializes in social-tech solutions.
Elgrichi announced that the acceleration program, Tech For Good Singapore, will be launched in Singapore later this year, the first outside Israel. The plan is to implement the same proven methodology and encourage early stage start-ups to tackle social issues via a personalized and structured curriculum with a valuable network and domain expertise to succeed.