When computer engineer Orly Rapaport was told she needed to change her diet to help with a chronic health condition, she researched recipes online that matched both her nutritional needs and food preferences.
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Disappointed by the lack of options, Orly decided to leave her position as Head of Innovation at leading technology company Comverse after 17 years, to create .
Launched in 2022, the anydish app uses AI to provide precision nutrition solutions for people with various medical conditions, such as diabetes, gastrointestinal issues and heart and kidney disease.
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The platform’s technology analyses recipes and tailors them to the user’s unique clinical requirements and individual culinary tastes. It can even evaluate whether a specific dish offered in a restaurant is suitable.
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Orly Rapaport, co-founder of anydish
“There just weren’t enough healthy choices that were clinically adherent, tasted good, and were easily accessible,” Orly tells Jewish News. “After much research, and realising the need was even more prevalent than initially understood, we came together to problem-solve and anydish was born!”
The company recently took the top spot in a women-led startup competition, organised by Yazamiyot – an organisation that promotes female entrepreneurship – together with Arieli Capital, and Mastercard’s innovation lab FinSec.
The aim was to support women-led start-ups in the wake of 7 October. It was held at Microsoft’s offices in Be’er Sheva, with 120 female entrepreneurs in attendance. As a result of winning, the anydish team now will showcase their solution at Calcalist’s high-profile “Mind the Tech” conference in New York. (March 4th)
anydish is working with practitioners across the globe. Its main markets are in Israel, the US and the UK, where the company has partnered with Jewish entrepreneur and registered nutritional therapist, Fiona Trup, as the company’s UK representative. It is also working with Genova Diagnostics. Genova practitioners are using the anydish platform to provide their clients with personalised recipes and nutritional tools based on Genova test results. “We would love to work with other UK practitioners, who want to integrate nutrition into their clients’ diets,” says Orly, who studied computer science at the Technion.
anydish has secured over $1.5 million to date, including an initial investment from The Kitchen Hub, the foodtech incubator and investment arm of Israeli food giant Strauss Group, as well as from the Technion and a selection of angel investors.
anydish helps users select recipes that match both their nutritional requirements and food tastes
Based in Tel Aviv, anydish comprises a team of nine entrepreneurs, all with some kind of health-related nutritional need. “It’s a really big issue and the app can be applicable for those with any chronic disease, or who need a specific diet, such as sports professionals or in pregnancy,” notes Orly.
“There is so much that AI can do in the nutrition space and the whole approach of data-driven, as opposed to traditional solutions available in the market today, will make a huge difference in terms of the insight you can get to determine what works well and not so well. By analysing data, we can take a further step forward into the recommendations provided.”
The Yazamiyot award was a great boost for anydish, says Orly, who acknowledges the importance of such initiatives for showcasing female entrepreneurship, the status of which, she says, is improving.
“There has been an increase in women founding companies and more openness from the venture capital world towards female-led companies. At first it was hard but I think there is some kind of appreciation for women leading ventures and I believe there is uniqueness when it comes to the managerial skills women have; for example, how you treat your team, seeing the bigger picture, providing a company culture and how you build dedication among people and engage them to feel part of the company.”
The Israeli entrepreneurial ecosystem was greatly impacted by 7 October, and anydish was not immune. “We were in a period where everyone was in shock. It was hard to get back into business because of the emotional stress – everyone was affected.
“But as Israelis we know that we have no other choice and must keep going, putting all our efforts into trying to get back into business, especially if you have business outside of Israel. You want to carry on.
“It is our strength and how we must behave as Israelis. We have no other choice.”