From Vision to Victory

By: Nofar Cohen, Tamir Rosenberg , Illy Hagege, Mijal Shaul

This past year, I had the incredible opportunity to take part in the UpStart Program, a venture-building accelerator that challenged me to turn ideas into action. What began as a rough concept—rethinking how influencers are valued—soon became Influx, a platform we developed to help fans invest in emerging content creators, offering both emotional and financial return.

Working with my team was one of the highlights of this journey. Each of us brought a different strength to the table—creativity, structure, analytical thinking—and together, we transformed a raw idea into a working product with a mission. With each dry-run, and strategy pivot it started feeling like we were building something that could actually change how people interact with the creator economy.

Beyond the venture itself, UpStart was a crash course in product development, pitching, business modeling, and user research. The support we received from mentors and peers made the process feel personal and meaningful. I learned how to take feedback and use it—not defensively, but as a tool to sharpen our idea.

And then came the final competition.

Winning first place wasn’t just a trophy moment—it was validation. UpStart gave us more than a startup. It gave us confidence, connections, and clarity about the kind of project we want to build.