Haifa incubator takes in Jews fleeing Ukrainian conflict

start-ups
start-ups

The hiCenter Business Startup Accelerator is employing a group through the Jewish Agency's Masa program.

The hiCenter Haifa Business Startup Accelerator has taken in a group of computer programmers fleeing the conflict zone in Ukraine through the Jewish Agency for Israel Masa program.

The Masa program brings students in high-demand professions, sportspeople and volunteers to Israel for a semester or up to a year. Masa has broadened the program to allow Jews in the Ukrainian conflict zone to continue their studies in Israel until they find out what is happening back home. The students did not need to commit to immigrating to Israel.

Alexander Forshtat, one of the students, said, "I grew up in the Ukrainian city of Donetsk and I always thought about immigrating to Israel but I hesitated. In the fourth year of my studies, just two weeks before the end of my degree course, fighting broke out in the city, the airport was closed and my mother and I were forced to move to Kiev. This banished my doubts and in Kiev I found out about Masa and came to Israel. After a period of training at John Bryce College, the program found me an internship here at hiCenter where I'm working on smartphone apps.

He added, "The region in which I grew up is currently a battle zone and is half empty and nobody I know still lives there now. It's dangerous for everyone there but especially me because I didn't support those who are now in control there (a pro-Russian group that have declared Donetsk an independent republic in Ukraine). I've still not yet decided what I'll do after the program but in all likelihood, I'll become a new immigrant. In the Ukraine I'll be bound to serve in the army, and I'd prefer to serve in the army here."

The hiCenter incubator that has taken in some of the group has recently undergone a strategic change and has become privately-owned after being a government incubator. The incubator recently added two new companies to its portfolio at an investment of NIS 5 million - one in the field of mobile and social media, and the other in computer wearables.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 16, 2015

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2015

Twitter Facebook Linkedin RSS Newsletters גלובס Israel Business Conference 2018