Jerusalem is Building the Future of Health Tech and Jinnovate Is Leading the Way
Written by Liat Rhodes Gadot – Director of Business Development
Israel has long punched above its weight in global innovation — more startups per capita than almost any nation on earth, a culture that celebrates building, and a talent pipeline that produces world-class engineers, researchers, and entrepreneurs. That culture of opportunity belongs to everyone who calls Israel home. And Jafar Mahfouz, an Arab entrepreneur from Jerusalem, is living proof of it.
Mahfouz is the founder of Jinnovate, Jerusalem’s first health-tech innovation center — and one of the most exciting accelerators in the country. His mission is as ambitious as it is inclusive: bring Arab and Jewish entrepreneurs together under one roof, give them world-class tools and global connections, and prove to the world that Israeli innovation is richer, broader, and more powerful when everyone has a seat at the table.
That mission caught the attention of Michigan’s innovation community early — and the relationship has only deepened since. In 2024, Mahfouz traveled to Michigan with Omar Hidmi, co-founder and CTO of Mirror Digital Technologies, one of Jinnovate’s startups. For Hidmi, the trip turned out to be something of a milestone: it was among the first times he had presented his company to an audience outside Israel. No single meeting produced a signed deal, but that wasn’t really the point. What he came away with was something harder to quantify and arguably more valuable — a clearer sense of how his company’s story lands with a global audience, what questions serious partners ask, and how to sharpen his pitch for the conversations ahead. Michigan’s innovation community immediately got what Jinnovate was building. When a Michigan leadership delegation returned the visit in November 2025, reconnecting with Mahfouz was a highlight of the trip — this time over dinner at the residence of the American Ambassador. The conversation both times picked up right where it left off: how do we go further together?
Jinnovate is part of a thriving movement. From Takwin Ventures (an Arab venture capital fund) and NGT HealthCare II to Al Bawader, OurCrowd, and Tsofen — a few of the most influential organizations investing in Arab-led innovation in Israel — this ecosystem has been building for over a decade, backed by serious capital, serious institutions, and serious talent. Jinnovate is the latest and most exciting chapter in that story, bringing it squarely into the heart of Jerusalem.
In just three years, the results speak for themselves.
The Organization: A New Chapter for Arab Entrepreneurship in Israel
Jinnovate launched in 2022 as a project of Techlinic Ltd., with a vision to make Jerusalem a recognized hub for health-tech innovation — and to put Arab entrepreneurs at the center of that story. Israel’s Arab community represents roughly 20% of the population and is home to extraordinary talent in medicine, engineering, and technology. Jinnovate was built to channel that talent into companies that can compete on the world stage.
To date, Jinnovate has supported over 55 health-tech startups, with Arab founders playing a leading role across the portfolio. The companies span medical devices, life sciences, digital health, and AI — and many are already generating the kind of traction that turns heads internationally. This is what Israeli innovation looks like when it draws from its full depth of talent.
“The Arab community in Israel has incredible potential — brilliant doctors, engineers, and problem-solvers who are ready to build,” Mahfouz says. “Jinnovate exists to make sure they have every resource they need to succeed.”
The Program: From Idea to Market
Jinnovate isn’t a traditional cohort-based accelerator that takes in a class, puts them through a program, and moves on. It’s a continuous, full-spectrum support structure that meets entrepreneurs wherever they are — from the very first flicker of an idea to the moment they’re ready to scale.
The core innovation program covers everything: ideation and team formation, business model development, pitch preparation, demo days, and direct introductions to investors and mentors. Alongside that, Jinnovate runs a HealthTech Education Leadership program for healthcare professionals who want to understand and participate in the innovation economy. There are courses on Health-Tech and AI — covering telemedicine, wearable devices, and machine learning in clinical settings — and an overnight Exchange Workshop that brings together medical and engineering minds in the same room to solve problems neither could tackle alone.
The partnerships Jinnovate has built reflect serious institutional credibility: Yeshiva University and the University of Connecticut in the U.S., Sheba Medical Center (one of the leading hospitals in the world), Takwin, and Microsoft FundHub. These aren’t vanity logos. They’re relationships that open doors for Jinnovate’s startups that wouldn’t otherwise be open.
The Startups: Real Companies, Real Impact
The proof is in the companies themselves. Jinnovate’s startups — founded by Arab and Jewish entrepreneurs side by side — have secured patents, signed pilots with major hospitals, and attracted serious investor attention. One portfolio company, Maero, is among those that have broken through. Another team built a device to help blind people navigate the world more independently — the kind of technology that doesn’t just create commercial value, but changes lives.
Each year, Jinnovate brings the full community together for an annual conference celebrating the year’s achievements — Arab and Jewish founders, investors, hospital partners, and major companies all in the same room, sharing in what’s been built. It’s a powerful reminder of what Israeli innovation looks like at its best: diverse, collaborative, and unstoppable.
“The Arab community in Israel has incredible potential — brilliant doctors, engineers, and problem-solvers who are ready to build. Jinnovate exists to make sure they have every resource they need to succeed.”
A Relationship Built Across Two Continents
The answer to that question — how do we go further together? — is still taking shape. Whether it’s connecting Jinnovate’s entrepreneurs with Michigan-based mentors, making introductions that help their companies grow, or finding entirely new ways to amplify what they’re building — the commitment is there on both sides. Some of the most meaningful partnerships start exactly like this: two communities that recognize something in each other, and decide to keep showing up.
Israel’s next great health-tech companies may well be founded by Arab entrepreneurs from Jerusalem. Jinnovate is making sure the world is ready for them.
