UpStart History Timeline
Three program officers at the Nathan Cummings, Righteous Persons, and Walter and Elise Haas Foundation founded a fellowship for Jewish Social Entrepreneurs, Joshua Venture, which is in development for two years and runs from 2000-2005, pauses from 2005-2008, and re-launches in 2009. Over 13 years, they support 38 fellows.
Martin Kaminer approaches UJC (now JFNA) about serving as an incubator for new Jewish ideas. Together with UJC and JESNA, he establishes a residential incubator for nonprofit start-ups inside the headquarters of UCJ. Over a 19-year history, Bikkurim incubates 33 ventures.
Toby Rubin and Maya Bernstein conceive the idea for UpStart with the vision of ensuring the vibrancy of Judaism and Jewish life.
UpStart is established as a “Jewish Professional’s Co-op” to support emerging innovators develop and scale new ideas.
Ariel Beery and Aharon Horrowitz develop the PresenTense Institute as a training ground for social entrepreneurs. In collaboration with Federations and other Jewish institutions, they run hackathons and boot camps around the country.
Bikkurim in collaboration with UpStart and Joshua Venture publishes a study to mark its 10th anniversary. The study highlights the need for more collaboration among players in the field. The study was supported by the Lippman Kanfer Foundation, Natan Fund, PELIE Foundation, Samuel Bronfman Foundation, and UJA Federation of New York.
UpStart, Joshua Venture Group, Bikkurim, PresenTense, and ROI Community create the Collaboratory, the largest gathering of Jewish innovators in the United States.
The Collaboratory reflects a shared vision to combine resources and work together towards Jewish innovation. Collaboratory runs from 2012-2022 (with a two year break for COVID) – eight Collaboratories in all.
The senior leadership of UpStart, Joshua Venture Group, Bikkurim, PresenTense, and ROI hold their first retreat with the sponsorship of the Lippman Kanfer Foundation. At the retreat, the idea of a merger is raised.
The Boards of Directors of UpStart, Joshua Venture Group, and Bikkurim agree to a merger. The North American Programs of PresenTense are integrated into UpStart as part of this arrangement.
The merger aims to consolidate innovation resources under UpStart, providing comprehensive services to entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs, and communities in pursuit of Jewish innovation.
A commitment is made to expand programs, increase resources for Jewish social entrepreneurs, invest in data collection and evaluation, and harness the full potential of an integrated alumni network.
As a result, UpStart now offers programs in 33 communities and has served over 1,400 ventures and 3,000 leaders since its founding. The UpStarter Network currently supports 150 ventures working to create a just, vibrant, and inclusive Jewish community.
