Silicon Valley Execs Fund Accelerator in Gaza

It's not like most Silicon Valley executives to get involved in thorny areas far, far away from tech.

But the lone accelerator in the Gaza Strip, where startups are near-unheard of, is getting help from Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff and others, according to reports.

Gaza Sky Geeks is the only accelerator in Gaza, a tiny sliver of land between Egypt, Israel and the Mediterranean Sea that's best known around the world for conflict between the Palestinians and Israelis.

"Militant" organization Hamas is the local government, and unemployment for youths is close to 60 percent.

But CNNMoney is reporting that Benioff and 500 Startups founder Dave McClure both contributed to an Indiegogo campaign over the fall that raised over $180,000 to get the accelerator going.

CEO Illiana Montauk thinks that there are as many as 60 entrepreneurs working on startup projects in Gaza despite the conflict.

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