Published: 15 December 2020
Last updated: 4 March 2024
YONI LUKSENBERG RELATES that when he walks around Bnei Brak, the ultra-Orthodox city in central Israel that he and many devout Jews call their hometown, young Haredi men will occasionally stop him to tell him about their idea for a great new app or website.
It began after the first time he appeared in the newspaper. Word got out. "I'm an anomaly," he admits. "I do it all: pray, keep kosher and maintain a Haredi lifestyle, but I don't wear a suit."
To the wider public Luksenberg and his business partner, Ariel Klikstein, are indeed anomalies – not because of the black kippa that each one wears and is associated with the particularly strict form of Judaism, but because of the start-up that they established.
Their company, Elementor, developed a website builder that interfaces with WordPress, the most popular website and blog publishing platform in the world, bringing them fame for reaching millions of users and for turning a profit with minimum fundraising.
In less than five years, nearly seven million active websites have been built using their platform. The tool has been translated into 56 languages so far.
FULL STORY How two ultra-Orthodox men created Israel's most promising startup (Haaretz)
Photo: Yoni Luksenberg and Ariel Klikstein (Eyal Taueg)
