Oren Dobronsky
Oren Dobronsky | |
|---|---|
| אורן דוברונסקי | |
| Born | 1973 (age 52–53) |
| Education | Tel Aviv University |
| Occupations |
|
| Known for | Co-founding Hotbar and Infolinks; founding Oren's Hummus |
Political party | Likud |
Oren Dobronsky (Hebrew: אורן דוברונסקי; born 1973) is an Israeli technology entrepreneur, investor, restaurateur, television personality and political candidate. He co-founded the internet software company Hotbar and later established technology companies including the online advertising firm Infolinks, SmartShopper and OwnerListens. In 2011, he founded the California restaurant chain Oren's Hummus.
Since 2018, Dobronsky has appeared as an investor on The Sharks, the Israeli adaptation of the business reality television format Shark Tank. In August 2026, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu selected him for a reserved place on the Likud electoral list ahead of the 2026 Israeli legislative election.
Early life and education
Dobronsky was born in Israel and was 53 years old as of August 2026. He served for six years in Mamram, the central computing unit of the Israel Defense Forces, and studied at Tel Aviv University.[1]
Technology career
Following his service in the Israel Defense Forces, he subsequently entered Israel's emerging internet industry and, together with Gaby Carni, founded Hotbar in 1999.[1][2]
Hotbar developed software that enabled users to customize the appearance and functionality of internet browsers and email programs. It offered features such as search, weather and shopping links. By 2002, the company reported three million active users and had reached operating break-even.[3] The company was sold in 2006 in a transaction reported to be worth approximately $50 million.[1][4]
Hotbar also attracted criticism over its advertising practices, collection of browsing information and reported difficulty of removal. Security companies including McAfee and Symantec classified the software as adware, a characterization that Hotbar disputed. The company sued Symantec after its antivirus software began removing Hotbar, but the case was rejected by a United States federal court.[1]
After Hotbar, Dobronsky founded or co-founded several additional technology businesses.[1] In 2007 he co-founded online advertising company Infolinks with Yair Davidovich. The firm developed technology allowing smaller websites to run advertising, and raised approx. US$10.5 million from investors. Infolinks was acquired by the New York media company Thrive+ in February 2018 for a sum reported to be short of the funding it had raised.[5]
Dobronsky later relocated to Silicon Valley, where he worked as an entrepreneur and angel investor and was involved with technology companies including OwnerListens and Crossrider. He has been described as a veteran technology entrepreneur and angel investor with extensive experience in Silicon Valley.[1]
In 2013, OwnerListens, a customer-feedback service that originated at Oren's Hummus, raised $1.1 million in seed funding. Dobronsky invested in the company and co-founded it with Adi Brittan, Michael Passey and Niv Caner.[6]
In 2021, Dobronsky served as chief executive of Keter1 Acquisition Corp., a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) that filed to raise $250 million on the Nasdaq stock exchange for a merger with an Israeli technology company.[7] The proposed fundraising was not completed.[4]
Oren's Hummus and television
After moving to Silicon Valley, Dobronsky founded Oren's Hummus in Palo Alto in 2011. The restaurant subsequently expanded to other locations in the San Francisco Bay Area.[8] The business also provided the initial setting for the development of OwnerListens, after Dobronsky sought a method for restaurant customers to send feedback directly to management.[6]
In 2018, Dobronsky joined the investor panel of The Sharks, the Israeli version of Shark Tank. His appearances on the show brought him wider public recognition in Israel.[1]
Political activity
In April 2024, Dobronsky publicly supported an Israeli military operation in Rafah during the Gaza war. He argued that defeating Hamas should take precedence even if military action risked preventing some of the Israeli hostages held in Gaza from returning.[9]
On 10 August 2026, Netanyahu announced Dobronsky as the first of eight candidates whom he was authorized to place in reserved positions on Likud's electoral list. Likud said that, if the party returned to government, Dobronsky was expected to work on the development and application of artificial intelligence in areas including the economy, education and health care.[1][10] Shortly after his selection, Israeli media reported that Dobronsky had used profanity to describe United States President Donald Trump as morally corrupt in a June 2026 social-media post concerning a United States agreement with Iran. Dobronsky subsequently apologized, saying that he had posted without knowing all the facts and that he regretted the remark.[11][10]
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Wullman, Israel (12 August 2026). "Netanyahu's new recruit: the man behind one of the 2000s' most reviled tech tools". Ynetnews. Retrieved 12 August 2026.
- ↑ Shelah, Shmulik (5 June 2006). "Hotbar in talks for sale to 180Solutions". Globes. Retrieved 12 August 2026.
- ↑ Bashan, Tsafrir (6 June 2002). "Gimme some skin". Globes. Retrieved 12 August 2026.
- 1 2 Gilad, Assaf (10 August 2026). הייטקיסט ו"כריש": השריון הראשון של נתניהו ברשימת הליכוד [High-tech entrepreneur and 'shark': Netanyahu's first reserved Likud candidate]. Globes (in Hebrew). Retrieved 12 August 2026.
- ↑ Orbach, Meir (5 February 2018). "Digital Advertising Startup Infolinks Acquired for Less than Equity Raised". CTech by Calcalist. Retrieved 12 August 2026.
- 1 2 Kumparak, Greg (13 May 2013). "OwnerListens Raises $1.1M To Keep Angry Customers From Running To Yelp". TechCrunch. Retrieved 12 August 2026.
- ↑ Habib-Valdhorn, Shiri (21 March 2021). "Israeli SPAC Keter1 files to raise $250m on Nasdaq". Globes. Retrieved 12 August 2026.
- ↑ Phillips, Justin (12 June 2018). "Palo Alto's wildly popular Oren's Hummus mini-chain is expanding to SF". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 12 August 2026.
- ↑ "'Must eliminate Hamas at any cost': Israeli 'shark' voices opinion on Gaza war in post". Ynetnews. 28 April 2024. Retrieved 12 August 2026.
- 1 2 Neev, Keshet; Genna, James (10 August 2026). "Netanyahu's Likud pick Dobronsky called Donald Trump 'piece of s***'". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 12 August 2026.
- ↑ Karmel, Ariela; Sokol, Sam (10 August 2026). "Netanyahu reserves Likud spot for candidate who recently called Trump a 'morally corrupt piece of shit'". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 12 August 2026.