Over the course of over a year, GIMED has accompanied more than 40 projects in Palestine with a high social and environmental impact from their business ideas, that were in an ideation stage. The main goal of the support given by the project was to strengthen transversal knowledge and skills and facilitate access to finance. Among the 20 participants that joined a pitching event held on Thursday 21^st of April, 4 were selected to access a grant of 7,500 euros for the development of their project in Palestine.

Leaders International has been the partner providing the training and coaching services for your entrepreneurs, carried out within GIMED, the EU-funded project under the ENI CBC Med Programme. From these green and social entrepreneurs, there are ideas in various fields such as sustainable food and agriculture, sustainable building and construction, renewable energy and energy efficiency.

The selection of winners was made by a panel of trainers composed of internal and external multidisciplinary experts, who evaluated them on the basis of the path followed, the growth prospects and the potential for developing future synergies. The winners will have 6 months to use the received funds, under the supervision of Leaders. The 4 grants will be used by the selected entrepreneurs to cover specific technical needs related to business creation pre-identified during the training and coaching sessions.

Winners of the business ideas category:

• Flowers Land: it’s a project that aims to use spaces of Area ‘C’ in the West Bank lands by seeding roses that will be irrigated using treated water from the village’s main water purification station.
• SHABAP (Sustainable, Healthy, and Affordable building App in Palestine): it’s a product that assesses the current building conditions and recommends improvements to reduce energy, water consumption and improve the indoor air quality. It combines the emerging technology of low-cost sensors and artificial intelligence into a multi-platform mobile application. According to UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme), buildings consume about 40% of energy and are responsible for more than 30% of greenhouse emissions.
• PALGY: this start-up provides a solution that lies in a device that condenses the water in the air and re-sprays it on the surface of solar panels frequently to cool them and prevent the accumulation of dust on their surface. The main goal is to increase the energy efficiency using technology and reduce the waste of water and electricity.
• Almaraee Alhadraa’: it’s a project that aims to establish a pioneering environmental farm at the national level in the production of various types of dairy, cheese and healthy meat free of chemicals. This is done by raising sheep in an environmental-friendly manner by feeding them with fodder, herbs and plants resulting from the remnants of vegetable farms.