MEET

What MEET does

MEET (Middle East Entrepreneurs of Tomorrow) is a non-profit educational initiative founded at MIT in 2004 by two MIT alumni. It operates a selective, scholarship-funded, three-year program for academically promising Palestinian and Israeli youth, delivering 600 academic hours of instruction in computer science, entrepreneurship, and leadership. Each cohort of 120 students is selected from more than 1,200 applicants drawn from 77 localities across Israel and the West Bank/Palestine, with strict 50/50 gender and 50/50 nationality parity requirements. The curriculum is developed and taught in partnership with MIT, leveraging MIT students, faculty, and alumni, including faculty directors drawn from MIT CSAIL and the MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub, and public endorsement from former MIT Presidents Dr. Reif and Prof. Vest.

The program is delivered through two integrated modules — an intensive Summer Program and a Yearlong Program — followed by lifelong alumni programming for a network that now exceeds 500 graduates alongside 290 currently active students. At MIT, MEET is housed under MISTI (MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives), with David Dolev serving as Associate Director of MISTI and Managing Director of MISTI-MEET.

MEET's business model is non-commercial: all accepted students receive full scholarships plus English tutoring as needed, and the organization is sustained through MIT institutional support and donor funding. Distribution is direct — six-month recruitment via written exams, group-dynamics sessions, and personal interviews — with marketing conducted through the meet.mit.edu website and organic social channels (Facebook, YouTube, Twitter/X, Instagram). The organization has no app, no disclosed APIs or integrations, and no technology products beyond its educational programming.

Name

MEET

Legal name

MEET @ MIT - Middle East Entrepreneurs of Tomorrow

Website

https://meet.mit.edu

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

5,001–10,000 employees

Short description

MEET is a non-profit educational initiative founded at MIT in 2004 that delivers a scholarship-funded, three-year program in computer science, entrepreneurship, and leadership for 120 annually selected Palestinian and Israeli youth, maintaining strict 50/50 nationality and gender parity.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Education and Youth Leadership

NAICS

Educational Services (611), Educational Support Services (61171)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

University-Affiliated Pathway & Foundation Programs (EDAIAJAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Academic Enrichment Camps (General Studies) (EDAMALAB)

Keywords

• STEM education
• Youth leadership programs
• Cross-cultural education
• Entrepreneurship training
• Computer science education

Headquarters

HQ city

Jerusalem

HQ country

Israel

HQ region

Middle East

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Scholarship Program: MEET is a scholarship-based educational initiative. Students accepted into the program receive full scholarships, including tuition and English tutoring as needed. The program is funded through institutional support and likely donations.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

MEET delivers a fully scholarship-funded, intensive three-year educational program (600 academic hours) for academically promising Israeli and Palestinian youth, combining an intensive Summer Program and a Yearlong Program. The curriculum is developed and taught in partnership with MIT, covering computer science, entrepreneurship, leadership, teamwork, and cross-cultural understanding. Participants are selected through a rigorous six-month process from a pool of 1200+ annual applicants for 120 seats, with lifelong alumni programming following graduation.

Product overview

MEET (Middle East Entrepreneurs of Tomorrow) is an educational initiative at MIT founded in 2004, not a technology product company. It offers a unified three-year educational program consisting of two integrative modules: the intensive Summer Program and the Yearlong Program, together providing 600 academic hours of instruction in technology, entrepreneurship, and leadership. The curriculum is developed and taught in partnership with MIT, covering Computer Science and Entrepreneurship subjects taught by MIT instructors, complemented by local staff covering leadership, deeper understanding, and teamwork skills. The program serves as a scholarship-based educational pathway for promising Israeli and Palestinian youth leaders.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• MEET Three-Year Program An intensive three-year educational program focused on technology, entrepreneurship, and leadership for academically promising Israeli and Palestinian youth, providing 600 academic hours of instruction across an intensive Summer Program and a Yearlong Program, followed by lifelong alumni programming. Participation is fully scholarship-funded.

Quantifiable outcome

• 500+ alumni network of Israeli and Palestinian leaders changing regional landscape

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• MIT MISTI (MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2004MEET is based at MIT under the MISTI program. MISTI provides vast experience and resources to help the MIT team prepare and organize for MEET. David Dolev serves as Associate Director of MISTI and Managing Director of MISTI-MEET. The program benefits from diverse MIT students, faculty, and alumni contributions.
• MIT CSAIL (Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCSAIL professors contribute to MEET's success. Prof. Daniel Jackson, Associate Director of MIT CSAIL and Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, serves as MEET Faculty Director.
• MIT Sloan School of ManagementcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSloan professors have contributed greatly to MEET's success, supporting the entrepreneurship and leadership curriculum components.
• MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub (CSHub)supportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerProf. Franz-Josef Ulm, Faculty Director of the MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub, serves as MEET Faculty Director alongside his CSHub role.
• MIT Former Presidents (Dr. Reif and Prof. Vest)supportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerFormer MIT Presidents Dr. Reif and Prof. Vest have honored MEET with their support, lending institutional credibility to the program.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Seeds of Peace: Seeds of Peace runs intensive cross-cultural leadership programs for youth from conflict regions, including Israeli and Palestinian cohorts. Like MEET, it selects high-potential youth, builds equal-nation cohorts, and invests in long-term alumni networks to drive change in the Middle East and beyond.
• Peres Center for Peace and Innovation: The Peres Center delivers Israeli-based educational, entrepreneurship, and innovation programs aimed at building bridges between Israelis and their neighbors. It is the most established Israeli peace-education organization and overlaps MEET in target population, mission, and donor base.
• Middle East Youth Initiative (MEPI): MEPI funds and operates leadership and educational programs for Middle East youth, including Israelis and Palestinians, with a focus on workforce and leadership development. It mirrors MEET's regional mission, participant profile, and program-style education-then-leadership model.
• TechWomen: TechWomen delivers an intensive mentorship and exchange program for women in STEM from the Middle East and North Africa, hosted in the US via a U.S. State Department initiative. It mirrors MEET's model of bringing regional youth to US institutions for an immersive STEM and leadership curriculum, plus alumni networks.

Broad incumbents

• MISTI (MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives): MISTI is the parent-style framework at MIT that hosts MEET and manages MIT's international experiential learning programs. It overlaps MEET in mission, faculty involvement, and the channel through which MIT instructors enter the program.
• AIESEC: AIESEC is a global youth-led organization running multi-month cross-cultural leadership and internship programs in 100+ countries. While far larger, it mirrors MEET in serving university-aged youth through selective, cohort-based experiential programs and lifelong alumni engagement.
• Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program: The Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program provides full scholarships and leadership development to high-potential African youth at partner universities. It mirrors MEET's scholarship-based, leadership-and-STEM pathway model at much larger scale.

Regional players

• Start-Up Nation Central: Start-Up Nation Central connects Israeli and Palestinian tech ecosystems, including talent development programs. It operates in the same geography and addresses similar STEM-and-entrepreneurship gaps among regional youth that MEET targets.

Emerging players

• Chegg Skills (Bridge Education Group): Bridge Education Group (formerly Bridge International) and similar MOOC/online providers offer intensive technology courses to learners in emerging markets. While commercial, they share MEET's emphasis on intensive, cohort-based tech training for youth with limited access to high-quality STEM education.

Others

• Friedman Family Foundation / iCenter: iCenter and affiliated foundations fund and develop cross-border and Israel-education programming for North American and Israeli youth. They are ecosystem participants and potential partners/funder peers to MEET in the Israel-Diaspora education space.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/MEET_Education
• YouTubeyoutube.com/meet
• Facebookfacebook.com/MEET-Middle-East-Education-through
• Instagraminstagram.com/meet_education
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/856976

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about MEET