The startup nation next door: New Palestinian startup that will save your battery
Two students from Nablus in the West Bank created a mobile charger made of durable Paracord, which has attracted global attention and already surpassed its funding goal by 456 percent.
Lama Mansour and Ismat Tuffaha, two students at An-Najah National University in Nablus, launched a start-up called BOLD Knot a year ago. The idea: A small device designed like a ball of yarn that slips over a keychain, and extends a phone's battery life by three hours. It is faster than a regular charger, can also be used as a USB connection between a phone and a computer, and the cable is made of rope woven together to give it flexibility.
Lama, a business administration student, and Ismat, an engineering student, came upon the idea of the compact, portable charger together. They launched a crowd-sourcing funding campaign on IndieGoGo, setting a goal of $15,000. They have raised $73,136 so far, far exceeding their initial goal.
The path to building the startup wasn’t an easy one, the two entrepreneurs speak of the difficulty in getting their hands on the basic parts needed to build the charger. Most of them were brought from abroad, and when they arrived at the border with Israel, they would remain there for a few weeks, due to the thorough examinations that electronics must undergo. The pair did not allow the technical difficulties to stop them, and they turned to Estonia, which is trying to lure startups from all over the world by providing nearly full support for the ventures. Estonia grants temporary residency, with the ultimate goal being importing 10 million startups by 2025.
