IsraAID-Pears Program Pilot Fund

IsraAID-Pears Program Humanitarian Market Bootcamp & Pilot Fund 2021

Integrating Israeli Innovation into Humanitarian Aid

The Pears Program for Global Innovation and IsraAID invite Israeli companies with innovative solutions in the fields of

Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Technology
Education Technology
Public Health Awareness and Management Technology
Data Collection, Management, and Analysis Technology

to apply by May 26th to participate in the IsraAID-Pears Program Humanitarian Market Bootcamp & Pilot Fund. This is a unique opportunity to explore your technology’s applicability to humanitarian settings. We are seeking companies interested in the humanitarian market, with innovations that can offer durable, sustainable, and affordable solutions in resource-limited settings. Detailed sector descriptions and needs can be found at the bottom of this page,

Successful applicants will be invited to attend our week-long Humanitarian Market Bootcamp. Participants will gain the basic knowledge and tools to navigate the humanitarian sector, conduct market research in this field, design targeted marketing material for these actors,

Following the Bootcamp, participants will be invited to apply for a funded pilot and deploy their technology for field testing in one of IsraAID’s humanitarian missions around the world. At the end of the pilot, IsraAID experts will compose a final report documenting the technology’s impact, for the company to use in future marketing and partnership endeavors.

You should apply if:

Your company has a field-ready technology, operates from Israel as a business or non-profit, has a unique technological solution (not a consultancy or project management company), and is interested in working in humanitarian settings.
You want to understand the humanitarian world, guided by IsraAID, the Pears Program, and other key actors.
You are seeking to build connections and expand your network in the humanitarian market to help your company build more bridges with additional partners.
You want to develop a strategy to see how your company can penetrate and scale in this market.
You are aiming to validate your technology’s impact in humanitarian settings through this funded pilot and assess its impact in humanitarian settings—coupled with a tangible deliverable that you can use for future marketing and partnership development.

Program Timeline

May 26th 2021: Application window closes
May 30th-June 3rd 2021: Interviews for relevant companies
June 2021: Short-listed technologies notified;
July 11th-15th 2021: ‘Humanitarian Market Bootcamp’
July-August 2021: Market research and business plan development;
August 2021: Submission of company profiles and pitch videos for final selection for pilot funding, which will be finalized in September and October.

Interested companies can fill out the initial interest form and relevant companies will be asked to fill out a comprehensive application form. Questions can be referred to summit@pearsprogram.com

All applications will be reviewed for selection by the Pears Program for Global Innovation and IsraAID staff, including professionals in the fields of WASH, Education, MEAL and Public Health, in line with on-the-ground needs and priorities. The program does not include funding for company R&D, HR, or any other expenses.

The Pilot Fund is made possible through the generous support of the Edmond de

Rothschild Foundation

FAQs

What does the program include?

A week-long Humanitarian Market Bootcamp. Participants will gain the basic knowledge and tools to navigate the humanitarian sector, conduct market research in this field, design targeted marketing material for these actors, and receive one-on-one mentorship.
Following the Bootcamp, participants will be invited to apply for a funded pilot and deploy their technology for field testing in one of IsraAID’s humanitarian missions around the world.
Selected companies will be field-tested, the pilot will include: product testing in one of IsraAID’s field offices; pilot implementation led by IsraAID professionals; direct access to pilot-hosting communities to ensure local ownership and long-term sustainability measures;
IsraAID’s M&E expert will provide a report of the pilot’s impact alongside a tailored market analysis including cost-effectiveness, potential business income-generating models, and pricing recommendations for the companies’ future use.
The program does not include funding for company R&D, HR, or any other expenses.

Should I apply even if my company has never operated in humanitarian settings?

Yes! Any entity with a field-test-ready technology answering one of the above challenges should apply!

What is the Humanitarian Market Bootcamp?

A week-long workshop in Israel, to introduce short-listed companies to the humanitarian market, conduct market comparison research, and collaborate towards designing pilot plans as the first step into increasing credibility in the market. The workshop will assist companies in identifying relevant stakeholders for engagement, strengths, and limitations of their product to meet the needs and characteristics of the market and potential adaptation of the product.

Topics included in the workshop may include but are not limited to:

Humanitarian Ecosystem 101: Who, What, and How?
Funding your Tech: Potential sources and best practices for securing grants and contracts.
Finding Strong Partners in the field
Adapting your Product for Success in the Humanitarian Market
Human-Centered Design
Opportunities for Innovation: BoP Business Models, Current Technology Trends and Gaps
How to Measure your Impact

Does participation in the Humanitarian Market Bootcamp secure a funded pilot with IsraAID?

Participation in the Bootcamp will not secure a company a spot in the pilot fund. Upon completion, all Bootcamp participants will have the opportunity to pitch their technology to IsraAID’s country offices. 1-2 of the companies from the Bootcamp will be afforded the opportunity to pilot their technology in the IsraAID-Pears Program Pilot Fund. Companies who are further interested in working in the humanitarian market will have the bespoke support of the Pears Program, regardless if they are accepted or not to the pilot fund.

How much time does participation in this program require?

Accepted companies will be required to attend the 5-day Bootcamp from July 11-15. It is expected that the first and last day of the program will be full days in-person and the 3 days in the middle of the week will be half-days that will be done online. After completing the Bootcamp, companies interested in participating in the pilot fund will need to dedicate up to roughly 10 hours of time to develop a short video that will be used to pitch their technology to IsraAID’s country offices. The 1-2 companies that are selected for the pilot fund will need to dedicate considerable time and effort working directly with IsraAID over the following several months to ensure the successful implementation of the pilot.

Sector Descriptions and Needs

Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH): IsraAID’s WASH programming aims to develop and rehabilitate water and sanitation infrastructure, promote hygiene awareness, and provide training toward securing safe drinking water and dignified sanitation facilities, to prevent water-borne diseases and improve the quality of life of affected populations.

Sector Needs:

Water purification technologies with an emphasis on water treatment (post collection), quality assurance, and desalination.
Small-scale, sanitation and wastewater treatment (in-situ) technologies for remote communities and households to support waste management and promote sanitation, prioritizing technologies that transform waste into value (energy, fertilizer, water for irrigation, etc.).
Hygiene promotion technologies to assist communities in becoming more resilient to infectious diseases, using technological resources for education and/or data collection.
Income generating WASH technologies for communities to operate and maintain WASH systems.

Education: IsraAID’s education sector aims to create safe environments for children in the aftermath of disasters and to offer both physical as well as psychosocial interventions. This includes: establishing Child Friendly Spaces; training community mobilizers; rehabilitating school WASH infrastructure; and offering pedagogical and psychosocial capacity building for teachers.

Sector Needs:

Technologies facilitating organized learning and creative thinking activities, ideally requiring low or no connectivity, in understaffed, overpopulated, and resource-limited settings to help formal and informal educational centers cope with high numbers of attendees.
Off-grid, automated systems to track and promote attendance at educational frameworks in areas with limited connectivity and irregular program participation.
Methods and technologies that reinforce practical Disaster Risk Reduction lessons for children. This is of high importance specifically in high-risk areas vulnerable to natural events, where communities and children need additional skill development and coping mechanisms to ensure their safety should crisis occur.
Technologies that support interactive experiential remote learning that can be connected to the school’s curriculum and provide accreditation.
Technologies that assist in bridging language barriers among students and teachers to support cross-cultural learning environments.
Technologies that support the facilitation, management, monitoring and tracking of training and post-training activities for educators.

Public Health Awareness and Management: IsraAID’s medical and public health programming supports community resilience by treating patients, providing specialist care, building the capacities of medical systems and its staff, and supporting health systems efforts through identification, referrals, tailored messaging, and awareness raising.

Sector Needs:

Technologies aimed at increasing public health awareness, with the ability to create context-specific messaging and reaching the most vulnerable populations.
Technologies or systems that can enhance remote populations’ access to COVID-19 vaccines, healthcare facilities, and specialists.
Technologies that help ensure quality, standardized medical care in under-resourced facilities.
Technologies that can screen for and track cases of malnutrition.
Technologies that can efficiently digitize health records and in connectivity challenged environments.

Data Collection, Management, and Analysis: Dynamic and context responsive programming relies on collecting and analyzing real-time data, evidence, and impact, to ensure accountability to our partners and communities. IsraAID is seeking new and innovative tools to support these efforts.

Sector Needs:

Technologies that collect feedback from remote communities on a consistent basis and communicate back to them. Considerations must include varying levels of literacy and internet connectivity.
Instruments that allow non-monitoring and evaluation experts to collect, analyze, interpret, and report data in a participatory method so that the process is not dependent on the physical presence of an expert.
Tools that measure the cost-effectiveness of policies, programs, and interventions in monetary terms and therefore financially validate investment in humanitarian interventions.

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