Migdalor
Backing the people who light the way
Based in Berlin, Migdalor is a cross-border platform that invests in people who create meaningful change.
Through culture, innovation, and impact, we partner with founders, creatives, and changemakers to transform bold ideas into lasting influence, building bridges between Israel, Germany, and beyond.
Migdalor is the Hebrew word for Lighthouse.
Vision
Liberalism
Our work is grounded in a belief in open, inclusive societies. We support creators who uphold values of freedom, equality, and justice — and who use culture as a means to protect and promote these ideals in the world.
Diversity
Israeli society is a mosaic of identities, cultures, and voices — complex, dynamic, and often in tension. We see this richness as a strength. Migdalor is committed to amplifying diverse perspectives and supporting initiatives that reflect a full spectrum of society.
Human Connection
We believe that meaningful art and culture begin with the ability to connect — to touch hearts, provoke thought, and create shared experiences. Migdalor supports ventures that foster empathy and bring people closer across boundaries of background, belief, and geography.
Honesty
Art that matters tells the truth — even when it's uncomfortable. We value integrity in expression, transparency in process, and the courage to confront reality with creativity and depth. At Migdalor, we hold ourselves and our ventures to that same standard.
Values
culture
Where Creativity Finds Its Path To Success
Migdalor Culture invests in cultural entrepreneurs emerging from Israeli creativity, helping them build sustainable ventures with international reach. More than a source of funding, we are a long-term partner – combining investment, strategic guidance, and business development to help exceptional creative ideas become independent organisations with lasting cultural and social impact.
Our approach
Migdalor Culture combines investment with active partnership.
We identify exceptional cultural entrepreneurs across music, literature, publishing, visual arts, theatre, dance and film, helping them transform creative ideas into sustainable ventures.
Our support begins long before investment. Through research, scouting and a structured incubation programme, we help founders refine their vision, validate their business model and prepare for growth. Beyond funding, we provide strategic guidance, business development, mentorship, specialist expertise and access to our international network of partners and collaborators.
Founders always remain in the driver's seat. We provide the structure, expertise and connections that allow them to focus on what they do best: creating work that connects people across borders and leaves a lasting cultural impact.
Our companies
Framed Berlin
Framed.Berlin
FRAMED BERLIN is a non profit association that uses a distinctive multidisciplinary curatorial approach to cultivate a space where diverse and even opposing perspectives can be brought together. This fosters profound exchange across cultural boundaries, enriching both personal experience and wider society.
Altneuland Press
Altneuland Press is an international publishing house based in Berlin that publishes Hebrew literature in the original language and in translation.
innovation
On The Bright Side Of Technology
Migdalor Innovation invests in exceptional founders building technology companies with meaningful commercial and societal value. We look for the right combination of exceptional people and compelling ideas.
As part of Migdalor's broader mission, our technology investments help strengthen a platform that also supports culture and social impact, creating lasting value across all three pillars.
Our approach
Migdalor invests in Pre-Seed and Seed-stage technology companies led by Israeli founders with global ambition. We back technologies that create meaningful value – from AI and SaaS to wellbeing, education and creative technologies.
More than investors, we are active partners. Alongside capital, we provide strategic guidance, product and organisational expertise, fundraising support, and access to the German and European markets through our network and experience.
We look for founders whose values align with ours – people with conviction, resilience and the ambition to build enduring companies. We invest where we believe we can contribute beyond capital, partnering with founders from the earliest stages of growth.
Portfolio
Musical Beings
A New Way to Play.
Tembo is a new kind of drum machine and sampler that enables everyone to create from the very first touch. No rules. No pressure. Just Play.
MaleBeing
malebeing.ai
MALEBEING is an AI coaching app built for men. At its center is Benson, a personal coach and mentor for the five areas of life that matter most: dating, fatherhood, partnership, family, and work. Men can talk to Benson by text, voice, or video anytime; the interaction is completely private and without judgment. Most men were never taught how to be good at the things that matter most. MaleBeing changes that.
impact
Illuminating Paths To Peace
At Migdalor, we believe that peace is the foundation on which everything else is built. Without peace, culture, innovation and society cannot truly flourish. Through Migdalor Impact, we support initiatives that advance peace, equality and shared humanity in Israel, Palestine and, where relevant, the broader Middle East, strengthening the civic, educational and cultural foundations for a more secure and sustainable future.
Our approach
Our work focuses on four interconnected areas: supporting grassroots peace initiatives, advancing peace education, building bridges between regional initiatives and German and international partners, and supporting independent arts and culture as a catalyst for dialogue and mutual understanding. More than a funder, Migdalor is a long-term partner. Alongside financial support, we build strategic partnerships, connect organisations to international networks, and help strengthen the civic and cultural infrastructure that makes lasting peace possible.
Operating under the umbrella of Migdalor, the initiative is guided by an advisory board of peace practitioners, academics, artists and civil society leaders, bringing together Israeli/Jewish and Palestinian voices in equal measure. Chaired by Maoz Inon and Aziz Abu Sarah, the board provides balanced perspectives and strategic guidance, ensuring the initiative remains independent, values-led and focused on long-term impact.
Our Impact portfolio is taking shape — new initiatives will be announced soon.
TEAM
SHARED VALUES BRAUGHT US TOGETHER
How it came to life
Seven years ago, Yael met Jan while seeking support for FRAMED, the cultural organisation she founded after moving from Tel Aviv to Berlin. Their first conversation revolved around Rachel Levin Varnhagen and the Jewish salons of eighteenth-century Berlin – spaces where culture became a bridge between people. That meeting marked the beginning of a close friendship and a long-term collaboration.
As FRAMED's principal supporter, Jan helped bring more than one hundred concerts, exhibitions and cultural gatherings to life. Together, they came to share a simple belief: exceptional people deserve more than funding – they deserve long-term partners. In September 2023, amid growing uncertainty in Israel, that belief became Migdalor – a Berlin-based platform connecting Israeli creativity, entrepreneurship and social impact with Europe. Around the same time, Yael met Itai thanks to their dogs, Pancake and Babi, during walks in Berlin's Volkspark. What began as casual conversations between two neighbours quickly became an exchange between two worlds – culture and technology. After advising Migdalor in its early days and helping shape its investment strategy, Itai joined full-time as Managing Director.
Today, Migdalor brings together three complementary perspectives: culture, entrepreneurship and long-term investment. Different backgrounds, one shared conviction: investing in exceptional people is the most powerful way to create lasting change.
Jan Fischer
Founder,
Serial Entrepreneur, Promotor
Jan Fischer is a serial entrepreneur and long-term supporter of cultural and social initiatives. His commitment to people with vision has shaped Migdalor from its earliest days. Combining strategic thinking with deep personal generosity, Jan believes meaningful change happens when talented people are given the trust, resources and freedom to realise ambitious ideas. Jan laid the foundation for Migdalor's broader mission – investing in people who bring light into the world.
Yael Nachshon Levin
Co-Founder, Managing Director
Yael Nachshon Levin is a singer-songwriter, writer and cultural entrepreneur. For more than a decade, she has created cultural platforms that bring together artists and audiences across borders. She believes culture has the unique ability to create empathy, challenge assumptions and build lasting human connections. As Managing Director, Yael leads Migdalor's cultural vision, supporting founders whose work has the potential to inspire dialogue and understanding between Israel and the world.
Itai Aaronsohn
Managing Director
Itai Aaronsohn is an entrepreneur, product leader and investor with nearly two decades of experience building products, companies and multidisciplinary teams. After years of leading technology organisations, he shifted his focus from building businesses himself to helping others build them. At Migdalor, Itai leads the Innovation practice, combining investment with hands-on support in strategy, organisational development and growth. His philosophy is simple: real value – for customers, teams and society – is the only kind worth building.
