NURA Global Innovation Lab

💡𝐃𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐈𝐬𝐫𝐚𝐞𝐥𝐢 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭?

We’re proud to be back on campus for our third year teaching “The Future of International Development” at the Argov Fellows Program in Leadership and Diplomacy at Reichman University. After two weeks of virtual sessions, we finally met face to face this week, diving into foundational concepts like the Base of the Pyramid (BoP) and leapfrogging, and what they mean for building sustainable, scalable solutions in emerging markets.

Our team is eager and honored to work with this outstanding program, exposing the fellows to the field of international development, along with the latest trends and tools shaping the sector. International development is an underinvested sector in Israel, leaving a lot of room for additional action.

We’re incredibly grateful to Alisa Rubin Peled, the Founding Academic Director, and Sapir Frieman, the Program Manager, for their continued trust in us for the third year in a row, bringing these critical conversations into the heart of the program. It’s a pleasure to be part of imagining the future of our field, while shaping leaders to understand international development.

𝐖𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐤𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐏𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 #𝐏𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞 2025: 𝐂𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡!

As our cohort of Pears Challenge 2025: ClimateTech ventures move from idea to implementation, the questions are becoming sharper: How do we pilot? How do we scale? Where does the right capital come from?

Last week we met for the first session of this year’s Navigation Phase. After a year of bootcamp, field preparation, and validation, this is where we begin to see what our Pears Challenge ventures have truly absorbed. The Navigation Phase translates experience and learning into strategic action.

Our first session focused on understanding the critical role of blended finance and identifying grant opportunities that can unlock pilots while de-risking growth. Our team at Nura led an intensive workshop that covered not only best practices in grant-writing, but also how to strategically identify and evaluate the most promising funding opportunities. Special thanks to Anat Pesok of DCIC for leading a session on grant opportunities from the Israeli Innovation Authority!

But just as important as the tools we discussed, was the cohort itself. Our newest Pears Challenge alumni openly shared funding strategies, compared notes on partnerships, recommended connections, and pressure-tested each other’s thinking. In international development, it’s important to remember that you don’t need to navigate alone. Relationships and collaboration are a critical part of the strategy.

Excited to see how this group leverages both capital pathways and each other in the months ahead!