Technological Entrepreneurship of Minorities in Israel in the Life Science Arena and NGT3 Work in this Field

Traditionally, the Elite of the Arab society in Israel pursued education and career in the life science arena, as these were considered accessible and honorable career options, while the high-tech path affiliated with the defense industries thus not accessible to Arabs.

A major failure of the Israeli society and economy is non-realization of the economic potential of Arab population. 21% of the Israeli population is Arab, nevertheless, the contribution of the Arabs to the GDP is only 8%, resulting in yearly loss of about $7.5B, due to the fact that only 2.5% are working in the high-tech and bio-tech sectors and only 13% are participating in the workforce (2012 data). Since the establishment of the incubator program in 1991 and until 2012 over 1,700 companies were established. Yet until 2000, even not one Arab entrepreneur took part in the incubator program. NGT was established in 2002 and since then 34 companies were established of which 15 by Arab entrepreneurs. NGT³ is an early-stage technology incubator structured as a VC fund, focused on life science technologies.