The technology assists students learning in remote or hybrid educational programs.
By Shula Rosen
ABRID, a Druze educational startup, received a 300,000 investment from Sheba Medical Center, The Jerusalem Post reports.
ABID was started by Bayan Farhat, Majd Thabit, and Seif Ibrahim, and was one of five finalists to present their technology before the judges.
The technology assists those learning in remote or hybrid educational programs.
“Education, in my view, is the most critical matter in the world,” Farhat said. “Everything connects back to education, from preserving social norms and principles in everyday situations – like how to behave in public spaces, driving safely on roads – to bridging gaps between different people and cultures.”
The runner up was Swift, an energy saving solution for heating water developed by a father-daughter team.
Other finalists included AgriEye, which detects diseases in apple trees early, Preln, a sports medicine thermal scanning solution, MultiKol a security company focuses on voice analytics for identification.
The investment initiative to assist Druze entrepreneurs was developed following a meeting between the Sheba Medical Center and Druze community leaders in 2023.
Sheba Impact, ARC Innovation, and Ofakim LaAtid, a non-profit established by Lt.-Col. As’ad Subah, are dedicated to supporting young Druze entrepreneurs.
Avner Halperin, the CEO of Sheba Impact, described the initiative to the Jerusalem Post, “We see that health and health innovation is a driver for growth, a driver for inclusion, and kind of a bridge building between [the] periphery and center of Israel.”
“We also already see results—dozens and dozens of startups that are working with us together in Sderot, various entrepreneurs in East Jerusalem and Kafr Kassem, and now this Druze initiative is another very strong addition to this innovation map that we’re building.”
Halperin added, “The opportunity to bring an underserved population into the world of innovation was very clear for us, so it’s been quite exciting,” he added. “We decided that the best way to start—after we had the investors – was to send out a request for proposals or for ideas or submissions. And we’re very impressed with the fact that quickly, with little publicity, we got more than 20 very strong innovation initiatives submitted.”