Last November, the Aviram Family Foundation, established by entrepreneur Ziv Aviram and his family, and the international magazine Forbes launched the Aviram Awards – Tech For Humanity, an annual competition to identify projects from two realities in the region. The competition was attended by groundbreaking projects and ideas, which made their contribution to humanity through technology and innovation. Five finalists from Israel, Jordan and Morocco reached the finals in Dubai this week.
The Aviram Family Foundation was established in 2021 by businessman and entrepreneur Ziv Aviram, one of the founders of Mobilai, and his four children: Gili, Nir, Noa and Gal. The foundation is a continuation of the family’s mother, Edith Aviram, who died of cancer in 2015.
Mobilai brought about a life-saving revolution in the field of road safety and changed the world of transportation. After Mobilai, Aviram founded the Orcam company, which provides two-life solutions for people with visual or hearing impairments.
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Ziv Aviram Chairman of Orkam
(Forbes)
The foundation established by the Aviram family promotes social and community involvement with the tools of education for action, creating equal opportunity, accompaniment and support. The foundation has engraved on its banner to harness the experience and tools of the business world and to combine technology and entrepreneurship with doing good in order to realize ideas, solutions and ventures and lead to improving the quality of life of society and the environment.
Avraham’s agreements with the Arab countries allowed the fund to take matters one step further, and in November 2021 the fund announced a competition in which projects from the various countries in the Middle East could participate. The competition is held in collaboration with Forbes economic magazine.
This is the first annual competition of its kind in the world for entrepreneurs in the Middle East who work to change the reality and improve the lives of the world population through business, innovation and technology. More than 600 entrepreneurs from Israel, the Gulf states, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Morocco and Jordan participated in the competition.
The competition is designed to promote solutions that contribute to humanity in a variety of areas: health, transportation, reducing disparities, community, environment and more. The competition is the first venture of the Aviram Family Foundation, and is a continuation of Ziv Aviram’s vision regarding the use of innovation and technology as a tool for changing the reality intertwined with his entrepreneurial activities over the years.
14 enterprises based on a contribution to humanity advanced to the semi-finals of the competition, in which a virtual seminar was held that provided entrepreneurs with innovative tools for the enterprise. The final stage held in Dubai reached, as mentioned, 5.
The first place in the competition was taken by Ari Gargir, CEO and founder of Red C Biotech. The prize includes a sum of half a million dollars, professional accompaniment by Ziv Aviram and a media accompaniment by Forbes. “I’m unusually excited to win this status,” Grain said upon announcing his winner. “Both because it is in the Middle East and because it is a technology for humanity, both of which are close to my heart and constitute the vision of society. It is a great honor for me to win. . Grain also won the Audience Choice Award.
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Ziv Aviram presents the Larry Grain Award at a conference in Dubai
(Photo: Elad Gutman)
Ziv Aviram, who presented the award, said: “Red C Biotech presented a groundbreaking idea that addresses a growing shortage of blood transfusions. The competition is a very exciting journey in which we were exposed to hundreds of groundbreaking and inspiring ventures across the Middle East and North African countries. “Technology and innovation. I am thrilled by the tremendous commitment of the entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs who have taken ideas, developed them, and in their power to create a new reality of life that will improve the world.”
Steve Burtoni, deputy editor of Forbes International magazine, said at the ceremony: “The winners chosen are a pioneering force, the next generation of business leaders in the region. They express a desire for change, by initiating solutions to the region’s most complex challenges. That enabled us to locate with them these tremendous talents. “
Among the speakers at the event was former US Bill Clinton who said in a zoom conversation: “The ventures are promoting peace. Abraham’s agreements create a place not only for governments to cooperate. “For so many years politics and economics in the Middle East have been separate, and now we see ventures as a platform for advancing peace. Despite disagreements between countries, we now have more in common denominators thanks to economic cooperation.”
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Bill Clinton delivers a zoom at Ziv Aviram’s Dubai conference
(Photo: Elad Gutman)
The event was also attended by singer Rita, who told about her childhood and the dreams she had come true. “I thought I was cursed in every way. Jewish, Iranian, woman,” she said. “We lived in a hostile environment, and when I was 8 we immigrated to Israel. I was the Persian who was laughed at because of the origin. The mentality is so different. Iranian culture is made up of many layers, and the Israeli mentality is more superficial, more immediate. “I never felt sorry for myself, I had a dream and I struggled with it. I had a passion for dancing and playing and I went to acting school. My dream came true overnight, the whole country adopted me. I did not hide my origin. I came with my real color.”
Ari Gargir from Israel, CEO and Founder of Red C Blotech, technology for the production of universal red blood cells, which are essential in the treatment of trauma, childbirth, surgery, cancer treatment and various blood disorders.
Sarah Benelf from Morocco, CEO of BMTA & C, which develops refrigerators to prevent wastage of agricultural produce and food waste. This is a unique solar cooling technology that is more efficient, more economical and more environmentally friendly. The current model is designed to prevent fruit and vegetable loss. And other consumables, from food to medical equipment.
Adi Goldman from Israel, CEO and founder of Bio Circular Biotic, which develops completely biodegradable biological plastics in any environment. The company produces optimal materials for fossil-based plastics alternatives and uses marine biomass as a raw material for the fermentation process that produces biodegradable PHBV polymers.
USA Wahba from Jordan, CEO and co-founder of Akyas, a sanitation solution that turns human waste into organic fertilizer especially for developing countries. This is a special technology for the sanitation industry, which includes a 3-in-1 system: toilet Breathable and compostable, the startup was born as a possible solution to the cholera outbreak in Yemen, and is now in its third pilot phase in Jordan and is expected to enter the market in India and Bangladesh.
Saar Safra from Israel, CEO of Beewise, the first and only robotic hive in the world that operates on artificial intelligence. The company has developed a comprehensive platform that enables remote maintenance of hives, thus helping to save bees and prevent colonies from collapsing.
The judges in the competition
Ziv Aviram, entrepreneur and businessman, founder of Mobilai and Orkam.
Stephen Batoli, founder of Forbes magazine, an award-winning journalist who interviewed the world’s leading leaders and entrepreneurs.
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Judges in the competition in Dubai from the right Fatima Al Jaber, Diana Wilde, Ziv Aviram and Christina Ho
(Photo: Forbes)
Fatima al-Jaber, one of Dubai’s top businesswomen. Al Jaber Group is a member of the Al Jaber Group, the largest corporation in the Emirates and one of the leaders in a variety of fields, including energy, transportation and construction. For more than a decade, she has been crowned by Forbes at number 94 on the list of the most significant and powerful women in the world.
Diana Wilde, co-founder of Aurora 50, a Dubai-based global venture working with key organizations in the Middle East, including the United Nations, aims to promote gender equality and opportunities in the technology world, with an emphasis on advancing women to management positions. Shamma bint Sultan bin Khalifa Al Nahyan.The organization leads significant accelerators, events and competitions.