In 2001, when the Israeli tech sector was starting to produce a stream of initial public offerings on the Nasdaq but it was still years before the country would come to be known as the “Start-Up Nation,” I started hearing complaints that not much of the sector’s new wealth was getting to where it could help less fortunate sectors in Israeli society. Additionally, American Jews started asking why they were being asked to continue treating Israel as a charity case when some Israelis were getting rich. 

In response, I decided to build a bridge to connect the tech sector with Israeli nonprofits. Rather than reinvent the wheel, I decided to import a model that had been launched in Silicon Valley just a short while before. 

That was the genesis of Tmura – The Israeli Public Service Venture Fund, which I established in early 2002. Participating Israeli startups donate a small fraction — typically, less than 1% — of their equity to Tmura, and when some of those donor companies succeed and the options can be converted to cash, the proceeds are donated to youth and education nonprofits. And every donor can indicate where they want the funds to go. 

The beauty of Tmura’s model is that it enables people and companies to donate even before they’ve made it big, without giving up cash and at a time when no one knows whether their donation will end up being worth $1 million — or nothing. 

To date, 939 Israeli companies have donated options through Tmura. Nearly 200 of those have had “exit events” (they were acquired or went public), and Tmura has already cashed in options and received corporate grants to the tune of more than $34 million. The successful exits include seven “Communicorns(R),” our word for companies that have donated at least $1 million to the community, including Waze, Outbrain and Riskified. Through Tmura, the tech community has supported dozens of innovative Israeli nonprofits, including SAHI, HaGal Sheli (My Wave), Krembo Wings, Heroes for Life, and others — many of which have been called on to increase their activities since the Oct. 7 attacks and, more recently, the conflict with Iran. And Tmura’s model is extremely efficient: In its 23 years of operation, Tmura has only had a single employee on its payroll, Baruch Lipner, the executive director. The organization’s operating budget, funded initially by venture funds and other donors, now runs on a “sustainable business model” by retaining 10% of exit proceeds. 

Tmura isn’t showing signs of slowing down, either. In 2024, we cashed in over NIS 10 million from exits such as BioCatch (another Communicorn), and funded grantees including Igul LeTova (RoundUp), Misholim and more. Thirty-seven new startups donated equity in 2024, and 32 have already donated in the first half of this year.  

Until now, U.S.-based Jewish organizations haven’t connected effectively with young Jews in the tech sector for a number of reasons, including but not limited to the fact that philanthropy has always focused primarily on cash donations. Some of these tech entrepreneurs have the potential to become very significant donors in the future, but in the present moment don’t have the resources to donate big.

In 2024, I launched a nonprofit entity in the U.S. called A Good Option to help support Jewish and Israeli nonprofits using the Tmura model. Tmura is providing expertise and startup financing support, along with funders including The Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies, the Mandel Foundation, the Jim Joseph Foundation, and a number of individuals. Sivan Aloni came aboard as executive director in September. 

Similarly to Tmura, a Good Option solicits donations of equity from tech startups founded by Jewish entrepreneurs and from the founders, key employees and investors in those start-ups. Companies typically donate less than 1% of their equity; individuals might donate a larger percentage of their personal holdings in a company (but a smaller absolute number of options or shares). The organization also targets the growing number of Israelis who are starting their companies in the U.S. When there’s a successful exit, the donor is able to recommend the U.S. or Israeli nonprofit organizations that their proceeds should support. A Good Option has already received its first four equity donations. 

In addition to providing funding for important causes, A Good Option aims to engage young Jewish tech entrepreneurs and investors in Jewish communal life and offer them an opportunity to be philanthropists, even before they have much cash. We’re doing that through a partnership program with leading Jewish organizations and schools that encourages their members, alumni and other supporters to donate equity to A Good Option and to recommend that some or all of the exit proceeds be donated to that organization. 

We’re also providing Jews in tech with the “community” many of them have been seeking post-Oct. 7 through events that provide a forum for Jewish and Israeli entrepreneurs and investors to connect around supporting Israel and Jewish nonprofits. 

Innovations in the tech sector have changed society in many ways. Our hope is that Tmura and now A Good Option will provide significant financing for the important work being done by legions of social entrepreneurs in the nonprofit sector – all while helping to engage young Jews in the future of our people. 

Yadin Kaufmann, an Israeli-American venture capitalist and social entrepreneur, founded Tmura in 2002 and A Good Option in 2024.