FWD Israel

Mazal tov to DEBUT – the winners of the Entrepreneur Accelerator Program 2026! 🎉

The competition was incredibly close, and every year we're blown away by the originality of the ideas our participants develop and even more by their determination to turn those ideas into reality.

DEBUT is a job-search platform designed specifically for teenagers, helping break down the barriers that prevent young people from entering the workforce. By connecting them with opportunities and giving them the confidence and tools to take that first step, they're addressing a real challenge facing today's youth.

We can't wait to see where this venture goes, and we're fully behind the team as they work to bring it to life.

Programs like this continue to prove what we've believed all along: this generation isn't just the future- they're already building it. Born with technology in their DNA, given the right tools, mentorship and belief, they're capable of creating ventures with real impact. Our job is simply to give them the opportunity.

Appsflyer is a remarkable Israeli success story.

Founded by two young Israelis to help mobile app developers measure and optimize their marketing performance, the company has grown into a global unicorn and the industry leader in mobile attribution and marketing analytics.

It was an honor for this year's cohort to visit Appsflyer's headquarters in Herzliya and meet with Nir Rubenstein, the company's very first employee. Nir gave our students an insider's perspective on the future of technology, economics and AI, as well as where he believes the tech industry is heading.

One of the most interesting takeaways was his emphasis on company culture. In a world changing at lightning speed, he argued that culture may become an organization's greatest competitive advantage. Equally refreshing was his optimism about AI- not as a threat to the job market, but as a tool that will create new opportunities for those willing to adapt.

The future won't belong to those who fear change. It will belong to those who learn, innovate and embrace it.

Eli Beer shared an incredible story with us when we visited him in Jerusalem the other day.

For those who don't know him, Eli is the founder and president of United Hatzalah, Israel's leading volunteer emergency medical response organization, with over 5,000 volunteers across the country.

Eli told us that as a young volunteer, the very first life he saved was an elderly man who had been run over. Arriving first on the scene with almost no equipment, sixteen-year-old Eli instinctively removed his kippah and used it to apply pressure to the man's bleeding neck.

When the man recovered, he asked to meet Eli. As they shook hands, Eli noticed a tattoo on the man's arm - his number from the Holocaust.

Many years later, Eli reflected that United Hatzalah has now responded to more than 8 million emergency calls in Israel - over 2 million more than the six million Jewish lives lost in the Holocaust.

One of those lives was a senior IDF general who was critically wounded by Hamas terrorists on October 7 outside Sderot. A United Hatzalah volunteer rescued him under fire and got him to hospital, where doctors managed to save his life. That general, Maj. Gen. Roman Gofman has since been appointed head of the Mossad. Due to his role, he will go on to save many more lives.

It's an incredible reminder of how one person can change the world.

And how one mitzvah can lead to countless more.

Highlights from our most recent Israel Advocacy training seminars. Our youth are being attacked daily, both online and offline, for their Jewishness and identity with Israel and never before has there been such an imminent need to help them understand and express themselves for their beliefs.

Teaching AI is a big part of our program as we try and understand where this field is going; what the ethical debates are around the topic and how to use it properly within our daily lives. This session by my awesome friend Justin Rockman is a Practical Tools Of AI masterclass that not only teaches students how AI actually works but gives them a guide in how to use it in todays professional world

No better way to learn the art of chessed and making a difference than getting your hands dirty and building wheelchairs for those in need!!!

Innovation Africa is one of those unique organizations that has made a HUGE impact for millions of people in Africa, by providing Israeli-made solar technology throughout African villages . It was such a pleasure being hosted in the most incredible way by Sivan Yaari Borowich, the founder of Innovation Africa in their Hertzliah headquarters and learning the story!!!

One of the best introductory sessions to the world of VC funding and investing. We thank OurCrowd for our continued relationship and participation in the FWD Israel Entreprenor program!