Baot

What Baot does

Baot (באות) is a nonprofit community organization founded in 2015 in Israel by four women — Dafna Rosenblum, Netta Bondi, Avital Zipori, and Carine-Belle Feder — and is the largest community of women in software research and development roles in Israel. The organization started as a 20-member Facebook group created to help women attend tech meetups together and has grown to over 8,000 members, led by approximately 300 volunteers who manage more than 20 distinct programs organized into five thematic clusters: Job Search (mentoring, interview simulations, presentation evenings, The Preparatory), Proactivity (the flagship "30 Hours" project-based program, technology blogging, public speaking), Groups & Meetings (forums for senior managers, CTOs, architects, tech leads, organizational behavior, social gatherings), Research (for academic researchers, including the Baot Researchers and Book Club programs), and Becoming Developers (a junior/newcomer community).

The organization's underlying "technology" is community infrastructure rather than software products — programs are coordinated through Facebook groups and delivered via Zoom-based virtual events, with recordings published to YouTube and updates distributed through a Smore newsletter. Baot does not sell any product; all programs and services are provided free to participants. Its revenue model is sponsorship-based, with funding from corporate sponsors including Cloudinary, Forter, Jit, Melio, OwnBackup, and Palo Alto Networks, supplemented by strategic programming partnerships with Microsoft (annual CodeFest workshops) and Google (International Women's Day Google Cloud event in May 2023). The go-to-market motion is community-led: women join the Facebook group, engage with programs, and the volunteer network scales through member-led program design and execution.

The core leadership team consists of approximately 8 senior tech industry volunteers — including an Engineering Manager at Volvo Cars, a Director of Engineering at Anaplan, a VP R&D, a VP of AI at Melingo, and an R&D Group Leader at Payoneer — supported by an extended volunteer base of ~300 people. The founding team and Co-founder Avital Tzipori is a Staff Software Engineer at Google. Baot's value proposition targets women in tech R&D roles (developers, algorithm specialists, data scientists, architects, security researchers, DevOps, managers, and academic researchers) and aims to combat career attrition by providing mentorship, job search support, networking, leadership development, and a sustained peer community.

Name

Baot

Legal name

Baot

Website

https://baot.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Baot (באות) is Israel's largest nonprofit women-in-tech community, serving 8,000+ women in software R&D roles through 20+ volunteer-led programs spanning mentoring, job search support, leadership forums, and research clusters, funded by corporate sponsors.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Professional Development Community Services

NAICS

Professional and Management Development Training (611430), Professional and Management Development Training (61143), Professional Organizations (81392), Business Associations (813910)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Education & Teaching Volunteer Programs (EDAIAGAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

Communication, Collaboration & Conflict Resolution Skills (EDAMAIAF)

Keywords

• Women in tech community
• Professional mentorship programs
• Tech career development
• Community organization
• Volunteer-led nonprofit

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Sponsorship and Donations: Baot is funded by corporate sponsors including Cloudinary, Forter, Jit, Melio, OwnBackup, and Palo Alto Networks. The organization operates as a nonprofit community with all programs provided free to members.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Baot operates a volunteer-run nonprofit community providing 20+ career development programs for women in software R&D and academic research roles in Israel. The programs span mentoring, job search support, interview simulations, technical blogging workshops, public speaking training, leadership forums for senior managers/CTOs/architects, project-based learning groups, social gatherings, and research-focused initiatives. All programs are provided free of charge to individual members and funded through corporate sponsorships.

Product overview

Baot (באות) is a community organization, not a software product company. It operates as a comprehensive portfolio of over 20 professional development programs for women in technology roles in Israel. The programs are organized into thematic clusters: Job Search (including mentoring, interview simulations, presentation evenings), Proactivity (including the flagship '30 Hours' project-based program, technology blogging, and public speaking), Groups and Meetings (forums for senior managers, CTOs, architects, tech leads, and social gatherings), Research (for researchers in academia), and Community Integration (for newcomers and those transitioning into tech). The organization does not sell a software product but rather provides community programs, mentorship, workshops, and networking opportunities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• 30 Hours (30 שעות)

Quantifiable outcome

• 8000+ women supported in their tech careers

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• MicrosoftcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMicrosoft partners with Baot for CodeFest - an annual festival of technological workshops in collaboration with Microsoft where participants take part in hands-on workshops, learn new content topics, and deepen existing knowledge.
• GoogleminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGoogle partnered with Baot for International Women's Day Google Cloud event in May 2023.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves1 record

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• Ellevate Network: Professional women's network offering mentoring circles, events, and career resources with corporate sponsorship. Comparable community-plus-mentoring-plus-events value proposition, though broader in scope beyond tech and more US-centric.
• Black Girls CODE: Nonprofit introducing girls of color to computer science through workshops, hackathons, and after-school programs. Shares the volunteer-and-sponsor-funded nonprofit model targeting underrepresented women in tech, though focused more on early-stage pipeline rather than mid-to-senior careers.

Direct peers

• WomenTech Network: Global community for women in tech with conferences, mentoring circles, and leadership programs. Comparable program structure and corporate sponsorship revenue model to Baot; serves as a useful benchmark for international scaling.
• Girls in Tech: Global nonprofit focused on engaging, educating, and empowering women in technology through mentorship, programs, and events. Closely mirrors Baot's volunteer-run professional development model across multiple chapters.
• AnitaB.org: Nonprofit (formerly Anita Borg Institute) advancing women in technology through programs like Top Companies for Women Technologists and mentoring communities. Directly comparable mission to Baot's career development and retention work, though operating at enterprise and US-centric scale.
• TechWomen: US State Department–backed mentorship and exchange program for women in STEM from the Middle East, Africa, and Central Asia, with strong Israeli participation. Comparable mentoring and professional development programs targeting the same women-in-tech talent pool Baot serves.
• WITI (Women in Technology International): Global professional organization for women in technology offering mentoring, leadership programs, and member networks. Long-established comparable offering to Baot, though with a more US-centric enterprise membership model.
• Women Who Code: Global volunteer-led nonprofit community for women in tech, offering career development, mentoring, and networking programs. Operates with similar volunteer-driven GTM and sponsorship funding model as Baot, but at global scale rather than Israel-only.
• Lesbians Who Tech: Community-led nonprofit organizing the largest LGBTQ+ technical conference and year-round mentorship, coding programs, and community events. Comparable volunteer-driven, sponsorship-funded, identity-focused community model in tech.
• Women in Tech Israel: Israeli chapter of the global Women in Tech movement organizing conferences, awards, and community programs for women in technology. Most direct in-country comparator, operating alongside Baot in the same Israeli women-in-tech ecosystem with overlapping sponsors and members.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/baot_il
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC1up2ORJaV-_ImESwkBfhTg
• Facebookfacebook.com/baot.tech
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/baot-il

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Baot