# Yair Goldfinger

> Yair Goldfinger is an Israeli engineer and serial entrepreneur who, at 26, co-founded ICQ, the first Internet-wide instant messaging service, sold to AOL in 1998. He went on to co-found the online advertising company Dotomi (acquired by ValueClick) and is now Co-Founder and CEO of AppCard, a New York based loyalty and personalization platform that gives independent grocers the marketing firepower once reserved for national chains. A World Economic Forum Young Global Leader and a notoriously press-shy angel investor, he builds companies around a single idea: relevance beats noise.

- **Role:** Co-Founder & CEO at AppCard, Inc.
- **Organizations:** AppCard, Inc., Mirabilis / ICQ, Dotomi, Zapa Digital Arts
- **From:** Israel
- **Nationality:** Israeli
- **Education:** BA/BSc in Mathematics and Computer Science, Tel Aviv University
- **Known for:** Co-founded ICQ, the first Internet-wide instant messaging service, at age 26, Sold Mirabilis/ICQ to AOL in 1998, Co-founded and was CTO of Dotomi, acquired by ValueClick in 2011

## Career timeline

- **pre-1996** — Worked at Zapa Digital Arts, a Tel Aviv software company specializing in 3D graphic tools for the Internet, where he met his future co-founders.
- **1996** — Co-founded Mirabilis with Arik Vardi, Sefi Vigiser and Amnon Amir and launched ICQ, the first Internet-wide instant messaging service, at age 26.
- **1998** — Mirabilis / ICQ acquired by AOL.
- **2001** — Co-founded Dotomi, an online advertising technology company, serving as CTO.
- **2005** — Received the Wharton Infosys Business Transformation Award.
- **2009** — Named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.
- **2011** — Dotomi acquired by ValueClick; co-founded AppCard, a customer loyalty platform, as CEO.

## Achievements

- Co-founded ICQ, the first Internet-wide instant messaging service, at age 26
- Sold Mirabilis/ICQ to AOL in 1998
- Co-founded and was CTO of Dotomi, acquired by ValueClick in 2011
- Holds several patents in the field of instant messaging
- Received the 2005 Wharton Infosys Business Transformation Award
- Named a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader in 2009
- Founder and CEO of AppCard, a loyalty platform serving independent grocers and multi-location retailers

## Latest updates

- **2024-01** — Leading AppCard as Co-Founder & CEO, expanding loyalty and hyper-personalized coupon partnerships with independent grocers.

## Links

- Website: https://appcard.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/yairgoldfinger
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/AppCardInc
- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AppCardRewards

---

Profile page: https://yespress.io/yair-goldfinger
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-07-07