2019 | Vertical Agnostic
Revital Rauchwerger, Director, Gvahim Entrepreneurship Center (GEC)
Supporting entrepreneurs on their personal journeys is a privilege.
Gvahim is a nonprofit organization that encourages Aliyah and provides newcomers ("Olim Chadashim") and returning residents with the network, tools, knowledge, and support to find employment or build startups and businesses in Israel. The Gvahim Entrepreneurship Center (GEC) in particular offers Olim from any country an intensive all-English online 5-week business acceleration program for early-stage startups.
Supported by the Patrick and Lina Drahi Foundation (PLFA), the GEC provides entrepreneurs with proven practical hands-on tools through lectures and workshops by top-tier executives, mentors, and experts, and perhaps more importantly continuity following the program, including alumni benefits, membership in the Gvahim Network – an online community that brings together alumni, mentors, and experts – and
introductions to potential investors.
Revital Rauchwerger, director of the GEC, is the beating heart of the program. “My interdisciplinary experience from corporate strategy and venture capital, to management consulting and product management.” She designs, produces, and delivers many of the sessions during a given program, in
addition to ongoing one-on-one support and mentoring during and after the 5-week program.
"We are a nation of immigrants and research shows that immigrants are more likely to become entrepreneurs than citizens of the native population,” says Revital. “Olim tend to have a high tolerance for risk and are especially creative and innovative. Just think about what they need to go through and figure out when changing their lives in a new country with a different culture and set of rules.”
The GEC is a relatively new program established in 2019. With 8 cohorts and 65 alumni startups their community is growing fast. “It's amazing to see that some of our alumni startups have acquired customers, generated revenues, recruited employees, and established advisory boards,” continues Revital. "We take pride in being part of their journeys.”
Photo by Chris Montgomery
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