Israel’s largest innovation conference ended June 9 with three female entrepreneurs chosen as the top winners of its much-anticipated startup challenge.

The winners were selected from a pool of 50 startups who pitched to the judging panels throughout the final day of the TAU Innovation Conference, which drew roughly 3,000 participants.

First-place winner Reporty, led by Lital Leshem, won $24,000 plus a trip to a Silicon Valley Roadshow. Using the power of the crowd, Reporty is revolutionizing the way first-response and public-safety agencies manage events in the field. The startup is based in Tel Aviv.

Second-place winner Trench, led by Adi Shemesh, won $24,000 and three months at Plug & Play, the biggest accelerator in the United States. Based in Tel Aviv and expanding throughout U.S. college campuses, Trench brings the sharing economy to fashion by letting members, based on location, buy and sell items using digital coins called “diamonds.”

Third-place winner Evolita of Caesarea, led by Katya Goldstein, received $24,000 and office space for six months at MerkSpace Tel Aviv. Evolita, still in beta, enables managers to perform instant data-driven research without prior experience with research tools or domain-specific knowledge.

The annual conference is sponsored by the StarTau entrepreneurship center, which was established in 2009 to offer support for early-stage projects developed by Tel Aviv University students.

More than 20 foreign embassy representatives at the event presented their strategies to help Israeli startups engage in their countries, and offered networking opportunities with selected entrepreneurs, investors, and industry leaders.

(via Israel21c)

[Photo: Israel21c ]