In a year marked by ongoing national turmoil and disrupted education systems, a group of 16-year-olds from Afula has taken matters into their own hands — and earned national recognition for it.
At the final event of the prestigious Startup of the Year 2025 competition, held at Expo Tel Aviv, a peer-to-peer educational platform developed by teens for teens was crowned the winner out of over 100 youth-led ventures from across Israel.
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Members of the Afula team celebrate after winning first place in Unistream’s Startup of the Year 2025 competition at Expo Tel Aviv
(Photo: Gal Sizon)
The platform, designed to help students catch up on school material through peer tutoring and shared study summaries, was created by third-year participants from the Unistream Entrepreneurship Center in Afula, named after Joan and Arthur Weisberg.
The project was born out of necessity. "For years now, due to COVID-19 and then the ongoing war, our schooling hasn’t been consistent,” explained 16-year-old CEO Leo Nakash Aharoni from Kfar Yechezkel. “There are major learning gaps, and we felt the current education system wasn’t meeting our needs. So, we built something to fix it. We already have a live website and, thanks to this win, we hope to expand it and reach as many students as possible.”
Entrepreneurship against the odds
The theme of this year’s Unistream competition was "You're Going to Change the World" — a bold statement in a year when many young Israelis, from all sectors of society, were simply fighting to maintain normalcy.
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Participants and visitors crowd the exhibition floor at Unistream’s Startup of the Year 2025 competition at Expo Tel Aviv
(Photo: Gal Sizon)
Despite months of war and emotional strain, Unistream participants — more than 1,000 teens from over 80 communities, including Jewish, Arab, Druze and Bedouin towns — continued their work on socially minded startups. The final event featured more than 100 ventures and drew hundreds of high-profile guests from Israel's business, tech and government sectors, who helped select the winners.
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Unistream’s CEO, Ifat Bechor, emphasized the deeper value of the competition: “Now more than ever, entrepreneurship is helping teens restore their emotional resilience and sense of agency. The continuation of these ventures, despite the war, gives youth a positive vision for the future.”
Top winners and honorable mentions
Second place went to StepUp, developed by teens from Unistream’s Netivot Center (sponsored by Bank Hapoalim and the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia). Third place went to Finteen, from Unistream Tirat HaCarmel.
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Participants pose with their startup display at Unistream’s Startup of the Year 2025 competition at Expo Tel Aviv
(Photo: Gal Sizon)
Additional winners included the Audience Favorite ViaSafe, Unistream Netanya (in partnership with eBay Israel).
Business leaders back the next generation
The judging panel included some of Israel’s most influential figures, such as Bank Hapoalim Chairman Noam Hanegbi, Israel Electric Corporation Chairman Doron Arbely, Israel Innovation Authority Chairman Dr. Alon Stopel, Altshuler Shaham founder Kalman Shaham, Intel Israel Co-CEO Karin Eibschitz-Segal and Meta EMEA VP Adi Soffer Teeni.
“This competition wasn't guaranteed to happen,” added Bechor. “After the Iranian attacks and everything this country has endured, we still insisted on holding it — for our youth, and for their resilience.”
Unistream, a non-profit, trains thousands of Israeli teens each year in entrepreneurship, business and innovation. Working with youth from diverse communities, it aims to narrow social gaps and strengthen Israel’s future workforce, with support from leading Israeli and global business leaders.