Gabriel Colodro follows a band of e-commerce founders [1] who flew into Israel while rockets still fell, trading comfort for commitment and turning a whirlwind visit into a working blueprint. Led by OpenStore executive Dov Quint in partnership with Israel Tech Mission, the group crossed from memorials and frontline communities to the Shimon Peres Center for Peace and Innovation, where Karina Lopez watched pressure turn into product and resilience into business culture. They met startup teams, investors, and community leaders, then kept going—past the photo ops—into weekly calls, new projects, and content pipelines built to outlast the news cycle.
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Quint’s idea was simple: pair professional muscle with personal ties. The mix—founders, sellers, executives; some veterans of Israel, some first-timers—walked factory floors, swapped notes with entrepreneurs, and came away with deals in motion. Florida-based CEO Isaac Hetzroni says the trip jumped from symbolism to utility: exposure to new procurement tools, AI-driven platforms, and co-marketing plans he’s now rolling out to 400 brands he advises. His takeaway is blunt: Israel’s R&D engines will keep driving the next wave of commerce tech; partner with them or fall behind.
The mission didn’t end on the tarmac. Participants are seeding partnerships, mentoring teams, and—yes—planning the next visit. For readers who want more than slogans, Colodro’s piece traces how the itinerary became a network, why founders talk about aliyah in the same breath as product roadmaps, and how a diverse cohort—religiously and professionally—turned a wartime trip into a working alliance. Read to the end [1]—and watch the video report [3]—to see where those early projects stand now and where this entrepreneur-driven bridge, as Colodro reports, might lead next.