Prof. Carmel Sofer, Chairman
Dana Gavish-Fridman, Founder and General Manager
Yazamut (“entrepreneurship” in Hebrew) 360° was established in 2018 to help fulfill the mandate of Ben- Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) to advance Israel’s geographic and socioeconomic southern periphery. To achieve this ambitious mission it set itself the equally ambitious goal to use entrepreneurship skills to empower students, researchers, and staff in every field and from every community. By building a culture of responsibility, teaching leadership skills, emphasizing real-world experience, and connecting entrepreneurship to a diverse array of disciplines Yazamut 360° indeed
succeeds in giving BGU students an edge in the dynamic job market. But more importantly, it gives them a foundation from which to effectively address their state and societal challenges.
Yazamut 360° initiates over 25 startups per year and runs five programs each of which aims at a different subset of university researchers, students, and staff. In this way it can engage and empower the broadest possible swath of students at every stage of the entrepreneurial journey. Since its founding, Yazamut 360° has been highly active: it launched 3 rounds of Oazis accelerations in which 19 deep-tech research-based startups were built; 2 cohorts of Negev-based merchants trained for eCommerce on Amazon; 6 funding rounds by Cactus Capital with hundreds of applicants, up to 28
investments and even 1 exit. Moreover, it supports 10 entrepreneurship communities led by BGU students with about 6,000 students taking part in entrepreneurial activity on campus last year alone.
"We create a new pipeline of technology enterprises that will enrich the Israeli startup ecosystem," say the center’s founders Dana Gavish and Prof. Carmel Sofer. "With a mission to catalyze and leverage the strengths of all players in Beer-Sheva’s innovation
ecosystem we create a vibrant entrepreneurial atmosphere at BGU and empower student leadership.”
Photos by Dani Machlis