We started our day with a conversation with Gabby Czertok, Founder and CEO of The Builders. The builders is an innovative platform that enables successful partnerships with Fortune 500 companies and Israeli startups. They have a Commercialization Program, R&D Innovation Program, and The Builders Fund, through which they facilitate revenue growth and cost reduction through technology.

Back in Tel Aviv University we had a pleasure of meeting with Lior Handelsman – partner at Grove Ventures and a co-founder of Solar Edge. In short ‘solar energy won’. Lior Handelsman had quite a journey with Solar Edge. One of the interesting differentiators of the team was the fact that there were 5 co-founders - major red flag for the investors, yet in the case of the Solar Edge their synergies were their biggest strengths. Yet their journey was not that smooth.

In the afternoon, we went to Herzliya – the heart of Israel's tech hub. We met with Ruben Drong, Co-Founder, and Chief Innovation Officer at Papaya Global, a global payroll and workforce management platform. Ruben has previously co-founded successful startups before starting Papaya Global in 2016. While being headquartered in New York City, the Papaya offices in Herzliya primarily focus on technology development and innovation thanks to the vibrant local tech ecosystem.

We met Saar Safra, the CEO of BEEWISE, on Wednesday afternoon. Saar Safra is a serial entrepreneur who has founded several innovative start-ups including Beewise, The Uprise, and ActiveBuilding. BEEWISE, which is headquartered in California, is a five-year-old company with 150 employees.