As a U.S Department of State initiative, GIST seeks to continually scan the horizon to find the best science and technology innovators, and to connect them to U.S. businesses and investors. GIST not only works to ensure U.S. access to emerging technologies and ideas from abroad, but also supports the economic prosperity and stability of the originating countries by helping to supply critical know-how, networks, and resources. Ultimately, GIST strives to build the capacity and resilience of both individual startups and the entrepreneurial ecosystems that support them. 

“More than anything else, our task is to put forth and carry out a compelling vision for how to use technology in a way that serves our people, protects our interests, and upholds democracy.”

-Sec. Antony Blinken

Our Mission

To empower innovators around the world, finding science and technology solutions to the most pressing global challenges of tomorrow and today.

10 years of connecting and engaging innovators across the world.

GIST empowers science and technology entrepreneurs to create successful startups that solve local and global challenges in addition to creating jobs. Connecting American businesses with premier foreign entrepreneurs generates opportunities for both.

GIST has mentored over 15,000 entrepreneurs worldwide and empowered over 30 community based entrepreneurship meet-up groups with over 5,500 participants.

The 900,000+ online GIST community at GISTNetwork.org and social media help to reach entrepreneurs in all corners of the world from Indonesia to Afghanistan to Bosnia & Herzegovina to Colombia and beyond.

The GIST community grows through both in-person and online activities that infuse learning skills, mentoring, and creating a network of connected entrepreneurs for support.

Our programs are uniquely designed to connect the most exciting innovators worldwide with the best of American expertise, mentorship, and opportunities.


GIST online interactive programs have directly connected over 40,000 viewers to American experts for their questions to be answered in real time on a variety of entrepreneurship topics, such as mentorship and seeking external investment.

"For the US, [GIST] provides an opportunity for market access, foreign investment, and joint ventures that allow companies to partner and expand to global markets. As an investor, tax payer and entrepreneur, GIST is a great medium to grow businesses, increase market opportunity for US and international businesses and share best practices amongst entrepreneurs.”

- Melissa Bradley

Founder
1863 Ventures

The GIST Stars

GIST innovators come from all regions of the globe but they share the common desire to make their communities and the world a better place. They are science and technology entrepreneurs working locally but with an eye on the larger landscape. Their companies are both viable and impactful. Their solutions are changing the world. 

Nermin Sa’d Founder, Handasiyat & Smart Detection Bra, Jordan

GIST winner Nermin is one of the “100 Most Powerful Arab Women” due to her revolutionary online engineering platform empowering socially restricted women engineers to meet the engineering deficit in the Middle East.

“Everyone has a turning point in his life, and in my business life GIST was my turning point.” ~ Nermin Sa'd

Tonee Ndungu, Kytabu, Inc., Kenya

Tonee is the founder and director of Kytabu Inc., an Ed- Tech company based in Nairobi, and the co-founder of The Nailab, a Kenyan tech-company incubator in 2009. Kytabu is a textbook subscription application for android tablets. Reducing the cost of a book by more than 40%, users can buy books on a daily, weekly, monthly, school term or annual subscription. Tonee won 1st place in the 2013 GIST Tech-I competition.

Cynthia Villar, MiBosillo | Peru

Co-founder of MiBolsillo, Cynthia Villar participated in the 2018 GIST APEC Startup Training in Brisbane, Australia where she won the Outstanding Woman Entrepreneur award.

MiBolsillo is the first personal trainer in your phone that automates the way you organize your finances and access financial services.

"I am beyond thankful to everyone at this amazing organization and for having impacted my life as well as the lives of so many other women entrepreneurs."

Hoang Dao Xuan, Monkey Junior | Viet Nam

Hoang is the founder of Monkey Junior, currently the highest ranked language literacy app in the Android app store and Google Play, and 2016 GIST Tech-I winner. Monkey Junior provides a comprehensive curriculum to systematically teach young children to read from single words to phrases and complete sentences. Each lesson lasts for 5-7 minutes. Children can take one or more lessons each day. The program is available in multiple languages, including English, Spanish, and Vietamese. Hoang said he witnessed his company quadruple in size within months of participating in GIST. Additionally, he was recognized by the Vietnamese Government for his outstanding contributions following GIST Tech-I.

Sadaf Naz, Her Ground, Pakistan

Her Ground is committed to helping women get the products they need, for topics they’re usually too uncomfortable to talk about. Her Ground is an online subscription service that delivers feminine hygiene products to users’ doorsteps every month.

Isaac Sesi, Sesi Technologies, Ghana

Isaac Sesi decided to commercialize the output of a research project he worked on as a Research Engineer at his former university, KNUST.

After learning about the pressing global problem of post-harvest losses and realizing the impact this simple technology could make in the lives of smallholder farmers, he decided to found Sesi Technologies to put this technology in the hands of the 33 million smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Queenny Lopez, Anuka | Ecuador

Queenny founded Anuka, which uses microalgae to consume large amounts of carbon dioxide and cleans the air we breathe. The goal is to fix large amounts of CO2 present in the environment in a highly effective manner (100 times more than 1 tree). Queenny is from Ecuador, and is devoted to finding sustainable energy solutions. She was named the Outstanding Female Entrepreneur at the GIST 2019 Tech-I competition at the Global Entrepreneurship Congress.

We couldn’t accomplish any of this without the help of our incredible partners.

Where We Are

Africa

Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros Islands, Congo (Dem. Rep. of), Congo (Republic of), Cote d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Qatar, Rwanda, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe


The Americas

Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines

 

The Middle East

Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestinian Territories, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen

Asia

Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Kiribati, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Malaysia, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Mongolia, Myanmar (Burma), Nepal, Niue, Pakistan, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Tajikistan, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Vietnam

 

Our Impact

GIST has been a proud advocate of STEM innovators across the world but especially those that have been traditionally under-represented in science and technology endeavors. Through on-the-ground and virtual trainings, mentorship, and competitions, GIST provides opportunities for innovators to grow and showcase their impactful solutions. The quality of the GIST programs has yielded not just high numbers of participants but also high numbers of successful ventures. 

15,000

startups

who have
gone on to

generate

over 
 

$250 million
in revenue

 

Nearly

one million

visitors to

GISTNetwork.org

since its

inception

27 million

innovation

    community

         members

                 globally

GIST has

reached over

10 million women

innovators

GISTNetwork.org has a gender

parity ratio of

51% women to

49% men

Number of GIST

Innovation Hubs 

empowering their

ecosystems: 36 

Over 130

emerging

economies

benefiting from

GIST's programs

Timeline

The first 10 years of GIST have been an incredible journey. The next 10 will be even better.

“We believe entrepreneurs can create jobs that fortify relationships between countries, build global markets, and help fulfill the dreams of all who desire the freedom to make of their lives what they will.”

- Barack Obama, 44th President of the United States

 



 

Over the last decade, GIST has grown and shifted to meet the needs of innovators all over the world. The world has changed in many ways; technology has made enormous strides, with new advancements emerging universally. While there has been enormous good, there are also challenges that are more pressing than ever. Outcomes for much of the world remain deeply unequal, the climate is changing rapidly, and a pandemic has altered the way much of the world does business. GIST remains ready to empower innovators to meet these challenges, and eager to do our part to uplift the many economies around the world ready to help solve them. 

From totally reinventing our pitch competition to hosting our first Virtual Catalyst this year, investing in newly emerging deep technologies, and elevating innovators who are making the world a more equitable, resilient place, GIST is committed to maintaining and expanding American values in the world of science and technology in the coming decade, where it will be more necessary than ever. We look forward to embarking on this next step in our journey, and we couldn’t be more excited by what we’ll build together.

Get in on the action! Sign up for the GIST List newsletter. Join us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Have a great memory, or an inspiring thought to share for the future? Share your thoughts and memories with the hashtag #GIST10 as we go into our next decade, together!

From the entire GIST team, thank you to our global family for an incredible decade, and together we’ll continue building great things. 

Now, let’s get to work!

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