The startup program is an intensive 8-month tech-venture building program that focuses on building and launching services across select big market industries in Palestine.

• Regular sessions on startups and business topics
• Up to $20K grants and cash prizes for up to 8 startup
• Access to Perks and Resources incl AWS, Heroku, etc
• 1:1 mentorship and coaching

• Teams will receive a tailored 1:1 mentorship and coaching via interactions with GSG staff, local mentors, and visiting and remote international mentors.
• Teams will have access to Perks and Resources incl AWS, Heroku, etc
• Teams who will join the program will receive a grant and prizes up to $20K for marketing their products and services.

• Up to 8 teams will have the access to get a grant of $20K after completing the 2nd phase of the program. Teams use the grant money to develop their products and spend on marketing and other expenses
• The GSG organizing team will determine which 8 teams will receive the grant.

• In the past, we held a one week series of learnings through workshops, mentoring, hacking, and pitching to educate our startups on the stages of startups and help them through the process. This year, we provide a series of workshops over several weeks (one workshop every week) and ask teams to submit deliverables at the end of each week.
• We will focus this year on the startups/companies that are targeting Palestine or external markets. Our goal for your team at the end of the Startup program is to have a functional product online that customers use and accelerate your progress and help you in getting attraction and make your company a profitable one.

We expect to select up to 25 teams to start in the Startup program 1st phase, and only up to 8 will progress to further phases in the program. GSG has full discretion over the number of teams selected.

Every cofounder should be willing and able to commit 10-15 hours/week of time and energy to reaching out to customers, launching a fully usable product with main functional features, and solving a real problem in the targeted market. We are also looking for people who are prepared to contribute to the community of teams in the startup program by committing to attending the online workshops twice a week, using our mentorship network and connections to your fullest benefit, engaging in GSG’s programming activities, and actively sharing and learning with other founders in the program. We expect that you all join the program with an open mind and great attitude ready to learn, improve and launch your product and get attraction.

Yes. GSG’s time and resources are very limited, just like yours. We cannot afford to waste resources on teams that are not committed to make great progress, as it also takes time and resources away from the more committed teams. We will ask you to sign several agreements if you are accepted to GSG Startup program that outline our expectations and grounds for expulsion from Startup program(for example, missing meetings with mentors, failing to present deliverables or commitment milestones, etc.).

We are interested in startups/companies that are serving the palestinian market and/or regional markets, as well as companies/startups who have the potential to scale (e.g. reach hundreds of thousands, if not millions of customers). There should be potential to target large markets in the MENA Region or around the world. However, your product should also be able to be launched here in Gaza/West Bank. For example, because of the limitations on travel, it is very hard for Gazan teams to launch a product serving customers in the US or Europe because of the difficulties in talking with customers and lack of familiarity with the markets. You should first focus on customer segments and specific markets where you can actually pick up the phone to talk with or meet in person with your first users. Otherwise, it will be very difficult to know what your users really want.

We are looking for financially independent founders. You are willing to adapt and be flexible, and learn quickly. You are outgoing and not afraid to cold call users and accept tough feedback about your product. You are passionate about your product, and have a clear vision of a problem you are trying to solve—ideally one you have faced yourself. You are a technical software developer, or are partnering with one who will help you get your prototype off the ground. You ideally have professional work experience.

We unfortunately cannot commit to accelerating hardware companies at this time. We can only focus on web and mobile software/application companies.

Teams are two to five members and are all founder-level participants. If you have other people working on the project (interns, etc.), that is okay.

This program allows for people to work from their homes or somewhere other than GSG co-working space in Gaza and WB. However, we have a limited number of seats reserved for startups in our co-working space in Gaza . These are on a first served basis. If you want to work from here, you need to coordinate with the community team in GSG and let them know your plans. However, we cannot guarantee office space for individuals participating in the program.