Abigail Klein Leichman
March 11, 2012, Updated May 13, 2015

More than 70 Israelis with out-of-the-box ideas assembled at Hackathon Israel, a March 2 event organized by the (very) young entrepreneurs Ben Lang, Nir Kouris, Michael Shurp and Kfir Bendet of Innovation Israel, whose stated vision is “to share the incredible high-tech scene in Israel with the entire world.”

“It was a huge success with attendees from the leading Israeli startups,” Lang tells ISRAEL21c. “Over 70 talented people joined us and developed different unique ideas.”

Held in the headquarters of HUB TLV, the Tel Aviv branch of a worldwide movement toward a sustainable economy, the Hackathon was sponsored by Carmel Ventures and ROI Community.

“At the end of the day, we launched ideas whose bottom-line goals are to help Israel go viral,” says Lang.

Examples are Peace Connector, which aims to connect people in countries of conflict based on shared interests; What if Iran, a place where people can post their answers to the question “What do you think will happen if Iran makes peace?”; and Gefilte App, a lighthearted phone app designed for the adult children of worried Jewish mothers.

These and other outcomes of the session are in various stages of progress.

“Our plan is to take this event international and, through the support of talented people around the world, build more incredible things for Israel,” says Lang, who adds that Innovation Israel is the largest startup community in Israel with close to 3,000 entrepreneurs, developers and investors.

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