ScienTech aims to build an innovation ecosystem in the Arab cities of Israel

“It was like a dream come true for me,” says Baker, an Israeli Arab with degrees in biology and business administration. She’d been a C-level manager at pharma companies for six years and then opened GrowOn, a boutique consultancy to help early-stage Arab healthcare startups overcome their considerable investment and business networking challenges. She also lectures on entrepreneurship at the Technion and Tel Aviv University.

Now, suddenly, Muhammad was offering her the management of ScienTech, the first accelerator targeted to help Arab founders turn scientific research knowledge into businesses. “It gave me the budget to try to make a change for our society, at least in the north of Israel,” Baker tells ISRAEL21c.

“It’s the first project in Arab society that focuses on science innovation. It’s not a common concept for us. In terms of innovation, we have a long way to go to be equal to the general population.”

A new ecosystem

Muhammad explains that the Galilee Society was founded in 1981 to help achieve equality for Arab society in Israel. “We have a long history of promoting science and technology that respond to local and global needs and challenges,” he tells ISRAEL21c.

The organization has divisions for applied R&D, socioeconomic research, environmental justice and healthcare rights, and has helped found eight companies.

Abigail Klein Leichman