Ido Leffler

Overview

Ido Leffler

native name	עידו לפלר
native name lang	he
birth date	1977
birth place	Israel
alma mater	University of Technology Sydney
occupation	Entrepreneur, Advisor, Investor
years active	1999–present
organization	Emeritus Council Member United Nations Foundation Global Entrepreneurs Young Presidents' Organization
television	Quit Your Day Job
boards	Spark New Zealand Non Executive Director Asia Society Vestergaard Frandsen Board of trustees and Co-chair Center for Global Education Obvious Ventures, Advisor

Ido Leffler (born 1977) is an Israeli-born Australian entrepreneur, investor, and advisor. He is the co-founder of Yoobi, Yes To Inc., Cheeky, Brandless, and Beach House Group.[1][2][3][4]

Each of the companies Leffler has founded and co-founded incorporates a social mission; Yoobi donates school supplies to children;[5] Yes To Inc. provides nutrition resources for children in Africa; Cheeky and Brandless donate meals through Feeding America;[6][7] and Beach House Group supports charities including KaBOOM, which funds playgrounds for children.

Career

Trendtrade International, Yes To Inc., SOMA Water

After returning from India, Leffler founded Trendtrade International with Lance Kalish, an alumnus of UTS whom Leffler met in 1997 through playing soccer.[16] It focused on international business development. In 2006, they founded Yes To Inc., then known as Yes To Carrots.[17] Based in Tel Aviv, the company produced and marketed organic hair and skincare products.[15] The company name was derived from Leffler's philosophy: "Say yes to positivity."[18][19] As of 2017, Yes To Inc. was sold in over 25,000 stores in the United States, Canada, and the UK.[14]

In founding Yes To Inc., Leffler and Kalish established the Yes To Carrots Seed Fund, a non-profit organization that provided under-served communities with the resources to develop and sustain organic food sources and access to healthy nutrition. In 2012, the company partnered with Mama Hope to create Yes To Hope, which provided schools with funding for year-round organic gardens.[14][20]

Leffler co-founded SOMA in 2012 and served as the chairman of its board until May 2017. A water filtration system composed of carafes and biodegradable filtration systems, SOMA donated clean drinking water to people in need through a philanthropic partner, charity: water.[21]

Yoobi, Cheeky, Beach House Group, Brandless

Leffler and Kalish founded Yoobi in June 2014. A school and office supply brand, the idea for Yoobi was based on Leffler's experience shopping for school supplies for his children. He saw a "distinct lack of vision and creativity" in the products available. After learning that 99.5% of the elementary school teachers in the United States paid for classroom supplies out of their own pocket,[22] Leffler and Kalish established a one-for-one system; each time a Yoobi product was purchased, an item such as crayons, pens, and rulers was added to a pack of school supplies which contained 1000 products. Yoobi worked with the Kids in Need Foundation to determine what students needed.[3][5][14]

In 2014, Leffler co-founded Cheeky Home, a line of paper and plastic tableware. The company donated a meal to Americans facing hunger through the nonprofit organization Feeding America for every product sold.[23] He also co-founded Beach House Group, a brand and product development company.

Collapse of Purely Byron

Leffler was a director of Purely Byron, the business founded by Elsa Pataky. He cited the troubles of major shareholder BWX as the reason behind the bankruptcy.[29]

Ido Leffler

Early life, education and early career

Career

Trendtrade International, Yes To Inc., SOMA Water

Yoobi, Cheeky, Beach House Group, Brandless

Collapse of Purely Byron

Other ventures

Personal life, philanthropy, and recognition

References