Gaza Sky Geeks — Palestine's Tech Accelerator Rebuilding After War

Gaza Sky Geeks (GSG) began in 2011 as the Arab Developer Network Initiative, launched by Mercy Corps with a $900,000 seed grant from Google.org, and grew into Gaza's leading tech hub and startup accelerator, opening a second site in Hebron, West Bank, in 2018.
The programme ran a six-month Code Academy bootcamp (about 16 students per cohort, roughly half female), a GeeXelerator startup accelerator (34 teams in 2018) and freelancer training, hosting up to 140 people a day. A 2014 international crowdfunding campaign raised $279,000 against a $70,000 minimum goal, with the largest single donations coming from Paltel, Bank of Palestine and Arab Palestinian Investment Co.
By 2022, roughly 5,000 coders and developers had graduated from GSG's programmes across Gaza and the West Bank. The organisation helped nearly 30 startups secure seed funding and investment, created more than 100 jobs, generated $91,000 in programme revenue, and its freelance-training graduates collectively earned over $400,000.
The October 2023 war devastated Gaza's tech ecosystem. Former GSG director Ryan Sturgill told TechCrunch that the Mercy Corps building housing GSG was left 'standing but blown out', fibre infrastructure was destroyed, and all three Gaza universities that produced its computer-science graduates were levelled. As of 2025, reporting (Rest of World) describes GSG as rebuilding, but its continuity remains fragile and unproven.

Read the full analysis: https://gazaskygeeks.com/