8200 Alumni Association

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8200 Alumni Association

Type Registered Israeli non-profit association (amutah)
Founded 1989
Registration ID 580145191
Location 132 Begin Road, Tel Aviv-Yafo 6701101 (registered address)
Key people Yulia Basen (CEO); Nir Dagan (vice-chairman); Chen Shmilo (former CEO)
Website 8200.org.il

The 8200 Alumni Association is the registered non-profit association of veterans of Unit 8200, the Israel Defence Forces' signals-intelligence unit. It runs the 8200EISP start-up accelerator and other programmes.

The 8200 Alumni Association (Hebrew: עמותת בוגרי 8200 (ש.מ.2)) was founded in 1989. It describes its purpose as preserving "the legacy of Unit 8200", supporting "its graduates in their civilian careers", and using "its alumni network to make a positive impact on Israeli society".[1] Its former chief executive Chen Shmilo has called it "the formal graduate organization of Unit 8200", with 24,000 members.[2] Its best-known programme, the 8200 Entrepreneurship and Innovation Support Program (8200EISP), is an equity-free accelerator that has run since 2011. It is open to Israeli start-ups whether or not their founders served in the unit.[3][4]

Registration and founding

The association is a registered amutah, no. 580145191, founded in 1989, with its registered address at 132 Begin Road, Tel Aviv-Yafo 6701101.[5][6] Its registered objects are maintaining "a framework for keeping social ties between the members of the association, and between them and the Central Collection Unit of Intelligence (under its various names and numbers – S.M.2, 515, 848 and others)" (Hebrew: "יחידה האיסוף המרכזית של המודיעין"), with further objects added in an amendment approved on 15 December 2019.[5] The association's own history says that it was set up "to preserve and pass on the unit's long-standing heritage and to encourage unit pride among its graduates". Over time it "also began to focus on the future" of the unit's graduates and on "harnessing them to support Israeli society as a whole".[7]

Leadership

The association's website lists the following office-holders:[7]

  • Nir Lempert – chairman. The Guardian described him in 2013 as "a reserve colonel, former deputy commander of Unit 8200 and chairman of its alumni association".[8] He also chairs the 8200EISP board, where he is listed with C.Mer Industries.[9]
  • Nir Dagan – vice-chairman.
  • Yariv Nornberg – treasurer.
  • Eliana Dan – board member and former CEO.
  • Chen Shmilo – founder of the association's school of entrepreneurship and former CEO. CTech identified him as CEO in 2023.[10]
  • Yulia Basen – CEO.
  • Ran Yagnes – legal adviser.
  • Tal Ben-Nissan Ziv – managing director of 8200EISP.[9]
  • Hadar Avtalion – head of the 8200Angels investor group, listed by 8200EISP as "CEO 8200 Angels".[4]

Funding and sponsors

  • Turnover: the association reported an annual turnover of ₪7,491,227 for 2024. Open Budget records ₪50,000 in government support and contracts over the previous three years.[5] Its transparency page lists a 2023 financial report, a certificate of proper management, its articles and a declaration about donations from a foreign state entity. These documents could not be retrieved for this page.[11]
  • 8200EISP: the accelerator describes itself as "a non-profit program, funded by sponsors, partners, and volunteers" that takes no equity, but charges a "symbolic commitment fee" on acceptance.[4] In 2024 CTech listed the accelerators' supporters as "Bank Hapoalim and Poalim Hi-Tech, Harel Insurance and Finance, Naschitz Brandes Amir Law Office, EY, Ford, Doral, AWS, Altshare, BRM GROUP, DENSO, P&G, Schindler Financial Consulting Services, Libertad Fund, Questrade, 8200Labs, Initiative MFI, 8200Climate, 8200Bio".[3] The partner logos on the EISP website currently include Poalim Tech, IAI Elta, EY, Harel, Altshare, BRM, Teva, Schindler, Denso and 8200 Labs.[12] Representatives of several sponsors sit on the EISP board, including those of EY Israel, BRM Group, DENSO, Poalim Tech, Teva, Altshare and Naschitz Brandes Amir.[9] The programme is based on the 25th floor of the Harel tower, 12 HaHilazon Street, Ramat Gan.[4]
  • Other partners: in 2021 the Jewish National Fund (KKL) announced a joint venture with the association to run technology learning centres for high-school students at KKL's "houses of excellence" in Nof HaGalil and Kiryat Malakhi. The total cost was about ₪902,500, with KKL paying up to ₪451,250.[13] The "8200 for Small Business" programme was set up "under the auspices of Bank Hapoalim".[10] The association also offers members a "Hitechzone" credit card with benefits,[14] and charges employers to advertise jobs to unit graduates.[15]

Programmes

8200EISP

8200EISP is an accelerator; the 2024 cohort ran for three months. Its core is a workshop of "lectures, expert panels, brainstorming sessions with serial entrepreneurs, investors and leading experts". It also offers one-to-one mentoring for each start-up's CEO and CTO, office hours, free office space, and "access to the 8200 Alumni network, comprised of 14,000 alumni in Israel and abroad".[4][3] The Guardian described it in 2013 as a "five-month hi-tech incubator in which unit alumni volunteer to mentor early-stage startups". Unit alumni "decided to emerge from the shadows" and launched it around 2010.[8] CTech gives 2011 as its founding year.[3]

  • Cohorts: by July 2024 the programme had run 14 cohorts and supported 204 start-ups, which had raised a cumulative total of over $1 billion and achieved 10 exits.[3] The 14th cohort, run jointly with the association's 8200 Impact programme for "wartime startups", had 16 companies. According to the association, 81% of them had founders or employees who had served in the reserves since 7 October 2023.[3] The EISP website currently cites "220+ Startups", "$1.6B" in funding, "18 Exits" and "2250+" jobs created (it also shows older figures of 204 start-ups, $1.4B and 10 exits). It says registration for batch 16 has closed.[12]
  • Notable graduates: the EISP alumni list includes Base44 (founded by Maor Shlomo, a 2020 alumnus, and acquired by Wix for a reported $80M), D-ID, Suridata ("Acquired by Fortinet"), Entitle ("Acquired by BeyondTrust"), Rotate ("Acquired by Check Point"), Adge.AI ("Acquired by Publicis Groupe"), Genda ("Acquired by Buildots"), Komodor, Explorium, Connecteam, IronScales, Karamba Security, LawGeex, Taranis, Zeekit, Lacoon Mobile Security, Cydome and indeni.[16][12] Earlier participants named by The Guardian in 2013 included Stylit, whose technology was "adapted from algorithms originally developed to track and prevent suicide bombings", and Rompr.[8]
  • Mentors and board: mentors listed by the programme include executives and investors from Zscaler, BioCatch, Panorays, Grove Ventures and Vertex Ventures. The board includes Nir Lempert (chair), Inbal Arieli and Chen Shmilo, along with sponsor representatives.[4][9]

Other programmes

The association lists programmes in three areas.[17][7]

  • Economy and employment: "8200 for Small Business", which gave free financial, marketing and legal help to businesses hit by the war in Gaza, with priority for those evacuated from areas near Gaza and in the north;[10] Woman2Woman, a women's leadership programme; and youth employment schemes in the periphery.[17]
  • Start-ups and investment: 8200Angels, described as "the alumni association's investment group" (translated), which offers investment opportunities in start-ups founded by 8200 veterans; a one-week US market programme; 8200 Impact, an accelerator for social-impact start-ups that has been merged into 8200EISP; 8200Beta; and a programme to advance Israelis of Ethiopian origin in tech entrepreneurship.[17][7]
  • Technology education: programmes in Israel's "social and geographic periphery", including Tofsim Kivun (Bat Yam) and the KKL joint venture.[17][13]
  • For alumni and heritage: the 8200Career job service, scholarships, professional forums, heritage articles, and a memorial to the unit's fallen.[1][7]

Links to the IDF and Unit 8200

  • The association's registered objects tie it to the unit by name and number, as a framework for social ties between members "and between them and" the unit.[5]
  • Its chairman, Nir Lempert, is a reserve colonel and former deputy commander of the unit.[8]
  • In November 2023 CTech reported that the association "directly assists the military unit, its servants, and graduates with various needs, including technological means". It said the association had worked "for the welfare of the security forces" from the first day of the war, 7 October 2023.[10] Shmilo said that many members had been serving in reserve units since 7 October.[2]
  • The association runs a support system for reservists released from service in the unit, including free group sessions with psychologists who are themselves unit graduates.[18]
  • The association states that it does not handle recruitment to the unit.[1]

Criticism

No reliable source found for this page criticises the association itself. Criticism has focused on the unit, and on the alumni network the association formalises:

  • Rest of World (2021) described "a generation of brilliant young people" being "funneled from a resource-rich government spy agency into an unchecked cyber-surveillance industry". It cites 8200's "own accelerator, 8200 for Startups by EISP, and an official alumni association" as part of that network.[19]
  • In 2014 reservists who had served in Unit 8200 sent a letter to Benjamin Netanyahu and the military chiefs, published by The Guardian, explaining, in the newspaper's words, "why they refuse to serve in Palestinian territories".[20]
  • In April 2025 more than 250 reservists and alumni of Unit 8200 signed a letter calling for the hostages' return "even at the price of an immediate change in the war". According to Haaretz, Netanyahu said such petitions were "driven by foreign-funded organizations".[21]

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 8200 Alumni Association, 8200 Alumni Association (English home page), 8200.org.il.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Ariela Karmel, 8200 Alumni Association: Joint effort needed to support early-stage startups, CTech (Calcalist), 31 December 2023.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 James Spiro, EISP 8200 and 8200 Impact join forces to launch cohort for wartime startups, CTech (Calcalist), 9 July 2024.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 8200EISP, The Program, eisp.8200.org.il.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Open Budget (Hasadna), עמותת בוגרי 8200 (ש.מ.2) (×¢"ר) (8200 Alumni Association (S.M.2) (registered amutah)), data from the Israeli Registrar of Amutot, retrieved 17 October 2026.
  6. ↑ GuideStar Israel (Ministry of Justice), עמותת בוגרי 8200 (ש.מ.2) (×¢"ר), guidestar.org.il.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 8200 Alumni Association, עלינו (About us), 8200.org.il (Hebrew).
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Matthew Kalman, Israeli military intelligence unit drives country's hi-tech boom, The Guardian, 12 August 2013.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 8200EISP, The Team, eisp.8200.org.il.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 8200 Alumni Association: Technological assistance to army units, evacuees, and support for small businesses, CTech (Calcalist), 8 November 2023.
  11. ↑ 8200 Alumni Association, שקיפות (Transparency), 8200.org.il (Hebrew).
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 8200EISP, Home, eisp.8200.org.il.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael (KKL-JNF), פרסום בדבר כוונה לקחת חלק במיזם משותף עם עמותת בוגרי 8200 (Notice of intention to take part in a joint venture with the 8200 Alumni Association), kkl.org.il, 2021.
  14. ↑ 8200 Alumni Association, כרטיס אשראי הייטקזון (Hitechzone credit card), 8200.org.il (Hebrew).
  15. ↑ 8200 Alumni Association, 8200Career – employers, 8200.org.il (Hebrew).
  16. ↑ 8200EISP, Our Alumni, eisp.8200.org.il.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 8200 Alumni Association, למען החברה (For society), 8200.org.il (Hebrew).
  18. ↑ 8200 Alumni Association, תמיכה במשרתי המילואים (Support for reservists), 8200.org.il (Hebrew).
  19. ↑ Amos Barshad, Inside Israel’s lucrative — and secretive — cybersurveillance industry, Rest of World, 9 March 2021.
  20. ↑ Israeli intelligence veterans' letter to Netanyahu and military chiefs – in full, The Guardian, 12 September 2014.
  21. ↑ Bar Peleg, Yaniv Kubovich and Noa Shpigel, Over 250 Reservists, Alumni of IDF's Elite Intelligence Unit Join Calls to End Gaza War, Free Hostages, Haaretz, 11 April 2025.
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