The Palestinian Territories, composed of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, are subject to a number of external factors that severely hinders their economic growth. However, despite all of the challenges it faces, entrepreneurship still finds a way to flourish in these high stress environments, like a small flower growing through the cracks of a highway.
Entrepreneurship has always been an important facet of life in Palestine, as a result of the highly educated population and the entrepreneurial drive that is so inherent to Arab cultures. Entrepreneurs in Palestine do face complicated obstacles, whether it be legal set-up, access to foreign markets, and even web domain registration. However, both the international development community and the PA itself recognizes that entrepreneurship in Palestine can be a catalyst for socio-economic progress, and should thus be facilitated. The recent creation of the Palestinian Ministry of Entrepreneurship and the construction of Rawabi, a soon-to-be tech hub city, are testaments to the realization that entrepreneurship can be a flagship for progress. For a great, detailed analysis of the nascent Palestinian start-up ecosystem and the obstacles it faces, check out this article.
Today, in our traditional manner of providing you with uplifiting stories about entrepreneurs around the world, we will shine the spotlight on three absolutely gamechanging Palestinian bred start-ups. Another important thing to note before we start: 23% of Palestinian start-ups are led by women, compared to 12% in New York City. We’ll just leave that there.
- AmalWork, by Rowan Alawi
AmalWork was founded by Rowan Alawi, a graduate from Birzeit University, who identified a clear problem in her native West Bank. She noticed that there was a severe disconnect between unemployed Palestinian construction workers looking for jobs, and construction companies looking for workers. The platform she created, AmalWork, aims to bridge that gap. She started the company with her father, a contractor, and has attracted hundreds of workers to the platform. The company makes money by charging a fee to construction companies that want to use her product. AmalWork emphasizes the importance of longer contracts aimed at guaranteeing better job safety for workers. For that reason, work contracts signed on AmalWork must be a least 1 month long.
The Amal Work platform provides cross-examinations of worker/contractor profiles and has multiple filters, including reviews. Both parties can track progress and receive reports, alongside other features and services. Amal Work aims to help sustain workers’ access to suitable employment opportunities and ensure that their safety and dignity is preserved. — From AmalWork’s Expo 2020 Dubai profile
For a better understanding of the platform, check out the video down below!
GrowHome founder Marwan Abdelhamid will also be interviewing Rowan on an upcoming podcast, so feel free to follow GrowHome on Instagram and Spotify to get further updates.
2. Wazza, by Amani Abu Tair
Amanai Abu Tair has always had an entrepreneurial spirit. At age 6, she set up a candy shop in front of her home, and a couple years later she was on the Forbes 30 under 30 list, presenting her start-up, Wazza, to the World Economic Forum and taking part in the Google Launch Pad accelerator.
Wazza is a start-up specialized in the extremely fast growing “edtech” (education technology) industry. They use AI to facilitate teacher’s administrative tasks, and improve communication between teachers and parents. This allows parents to be more in the know about their children’s education.
With Wazza, teachers can take student attendance, manage and document activities, and instantly share it with parents, as well as the school’s administration. To access these features, or download previous attendance and activity reports, teachers can sign in to the mobile dashboard using their personalized accounts. This helps teachers become more efficient while keeping parents in the know. And privacy is one of our main priorities, so teachers and users won’t need to share any sensitive information, including their private phone numbers. — Amani Abu Tair
Watch Amani succintly explain the concept behind Wazza. If you’re interested in following Wazza’s progress, make sure to follow them on Instagram by clicking here.
3. Green Cake Block & SunBox by Majd Mashharawi
This last entrepreneur hasn’t created an incredibly innovative, gamechanging company. She’s created two of them.
During her time studying as a civil engineer at Gaza’s Islamic University, Mashharawi graduated and perfected the mix for a concrete building block made from recycled rubble and ash. Gaza has a lot of rubble due to consecutive destructive wars, as well as a large amount of ash due to high coal combustion in matters such as cooking. The goal of Green Cake Block was to allow Gazans to rebuild destroyed homes and buildings without having to overly rely on imported cement. In 2016, Mashharawi’s invention won the Japan Gaza Innovation Award and she received the Women’s Entrepreneur in Palestine Award in 2017. The name “GreenCake” comes from the fact that these blocks are environmentally friendly, and have a lots of air pockets inside them. Check out her TedTalk here.
This incredible innovation was featured in a BBC video, which you can watch right here.
Mashharawi could’ve stopped there, but she was not named one of the World’s Most Creative Person by accident. The second company she is currently working on is called “SunBox”, which is a small device that provides electricity from solar energy. Gaza suffers from notoriously bad electricity cuts, impacting everyone from students, business owners, families, and even GreenCake’s factory. SunBox is a small device that can be installed by every family, providing reliable electricity from Gaza’s 320+ days of sunlight a year. Check out their Instagram here.
Launched last year, SunBox is already a success. Its projects have included the installation of a 250 kilowatt system for a desalination plant. It now has a staff of 10 and in July had a turnover of $500,000. — The Guardian
These entrepreneurs are changing the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in Palestine. Our platform, GrowHome, allows Palestinian diasporas to get involved with these types of companies. On GrowHome, diasporas can participate in either mentorship, collaboration (great for students!) or funding. On the other hand, entrepreneurs from Palestine can sign up on GrowHome and get connected to a ton of opportunities!
We are launching our BETA product in Jordan and Palestine. Visit our website www.growhome.app and sign up for our BETA waiting list, as either a diaspora or an entrepreneur.
To get updated on our progress, follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn, Youtube.
Listen to our podcasts on Spotify.
As always, we will stay true to our motto: “Turning brain drain into brain gain”.
