Tech Titan Ariel Cohen Drops 'Revolutionary' Protein Chips with Unmatched Taste and Protein Power

The food and beverage industry always demands innovations upon innovations. In recent years, a shift has taken hold in the field: more and more people are becoming health-conscious and more discerning about taste.

Enter Ariel Cohen — a forward-thinker who made the bold pivot from cybersecurity boardrooms to kitchen innovations, addressing the niche that health enthusiasts seek in their daily lives.

Cohen has launched Crack It, a revolutionary high-protein chip set to disrupt the snack industry by delivering a taste never before seen. The snack’s name came from the very innovation that Cohen pursued: “With the protein snack, we had a secret production method that delivered high protein, low calories, and health—but initially, it was barely edible. It took a year working with food engineers far smarter than me to perfect the formula. We cracked it.”

Cohen was fresh off raising over $50 million to build a global cybersecurity education empire called ThriveDX. From here, he applied his executive prowess not just to create a snack that’s practically the holy grail for many — with a high protein percentage, low calories, maximum health benefits, and good flavor — but to scale it to deliver to the masses. Today, Cohen serves as the CEO and part-owner of Forever Protein. This company made Crack it, with plans to take this venture beyond healthy eating to a craveable one for fitness buffs, families, and curious individuals.

From Cyber Empires to Crunchy Revolutions

Before becoming the leader behind Crack It development, Cohen was a thriving businessman. In Israel, he served as CEO of HackerU (now ThriveDX), a global technology training provider, until 2021. Eventually, he evolved as the company’s vice president before taking on the role of CEO once again in the company’s United States department. He was one of the key people who helped expand HackerU exponentially, leading the company onto the global stage by taking it to Australia, Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Singapore, India, and other countries. He then made an unusual move that later revealed more of his success: he took the exit. He sold his shares.

From a bird's-eye view, it looks like the narrative of a successful career: he was first a hired employee, then made partner, and remained in high-level executive positions for 12 years. In his time there, he raised over $50 million in investment from prominent venture capital firms and targeted strategic investors. He cultivated partnerships globally while directing CEOs worldwide.

But Cohen looked for more. Eventually, he found himself in executive positions at different tech companies, including ICS Security and, later, Volaris. In ICS Security, where they develop cybersecurity solutions, he served as the CEO, spearheading strategy, expansion, operations, and fundraising.

With Cohen’s expertise, ICS shifted direction to move into a more profitable position. When he moved to Volaris, he took on the role of Group CEO, where he oversaw new portfolios, managed teams, led acquisitions, and provided strategic guidance and mentorship to other CEOs under his wing.

Cohen’s talents were meant for something else. He spotted a gap in the protein snack market. Usually, people look for health benefits, especially a high protein content, in their snacks to reach an ideal intake. Many offerings on the market, however, fail on one or two counts: they may be high in calories, which fitness buffs would avoid, or not flavorful enough, which deters even the average consumer.

Cohen muses on his redirection, saying: “I left the company and started my own venture—a new protein snack that excels in all key categories: high protein, low calories, healthy, and tasty. When measured together across these four categories, it is the best available. Powders may win on protein and calories but lack taste and health; other snacks may taste better but are less healthy and have a worse ratio of protein vs calories.”

Cohen seemed to be in the midst of an impossible job: creating that perfect protein snack amid all the existing competition. However, getting all four categories to make the best available snack on the market was not something he would shy away from. Here was the challenge for his business and executive prowess — and he succeeded.

Cracking the Code: A Year of Edible Innovation

But the development of Crack It wasn’t exactly a walk in the park. After all, there’s a reason why so many of the protein snacks and powders available still haven’t managed to get taste and health to work together seamlessly. Cohen, first off, was faced with a problem: he had no food and beverage training. How could he pull off manufacturing a snack?

It’s a good thing that by nature, Cohen is a thorough, hard-working person. He was shaped by many years in positions that demanded meticulousness and responsibility, and it also comes naturally to him to continually work to the best of his ability.

He acknowledges this, remembering the challenge and saying: “Despite no food-tech background, in the past year I've learned enough to advise food engineers on materials and processes. It's driven by passion and a drive to see things done perfectly.” Whatever Cohen might lack, he makes up for with that determination to see things through. He made sure to listen to other professionals to take their advice, analyzing situations based on both experience and mentorship, and in the end, all he had to do was keep up the hard work and prioritize everything he needed to do.

For Cohen, the food industry simply mirrored the complex challenges he had already tackled in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and global expansion. He chose to partner with top food engineers, spending a grueling twelve months attempting to refine a secret production method.

Cohen adopted a strategic mindset, as he did when he became CEO at various companies, orchestrating acquisitions and partnerships. He analyzed everything and iterated on the product as planned.

Despite the challenges he faced, Cohen sees the overall success as having paid off, stating: “I genuinely enjoy what I do and the people I work with. Crack It has massive potential—every morning after my routine (breathing meditation, yoga, gym), I think about how I want my daily protein to taste like our product. M&A deals are thrilling and lucrative. I wake up happy, with a wonderful family and a good life.”

Family-Approved Flavor and a Healthier Future

Crack It will stand out on every grocery shelf due to its irresistible taste. Add in the fact that it’s protein-rich and packed with health benefits, and you’ve got yourself a holy grail.

While one can argue that protein snacks are usually for gym enthusiasts and athletes, it’s also a consideration that healthier snacks are needed in the market. There’s an ample supply of junk food, but not a lot of snacks that promise both flavor and health benefits. At the same time, some people need these snacks for health reasons, especially if they need a higher protein intake to counteract chronic illnesses or injuries. Crack It, as an innovation, can benefit more people than one would think.

Cohen knows this and has big dreams for Crack It. He’s willing to set aside everything to make it the center of his professional life. He muses: “Going forward, Crack It will be the primary focus—delivering the healthiest, best-tasting, high-protein, low-calorie snack to improve people's nutrition worldwide.” Through his product, he hopes to build a healthier future for everyone.

This sounds too ambitious, but ambition is also what sets Cohen apart. Gerry Stoch, Director of the New York State and State of Iowa Representative Offices in Israel, describes meeting him through HackerU: “He is very ambitious and goal-oriented – he was decent throughout our interaction. He is an honest guy – excellent relationship builder – people feel comfortable that he is what they see.”

Another professional peer, Gil Aldani of HackerU, couldn’t agree more. For him, Cohen’s ambition gave him clarity and foresight, which benefited his professional career and his colleagues. He states of Cohen: “He always saw one step ahead, on how to make the best products, how to penetrate another market, who is more intelligent than him that he can hire and bring new ideas to life. He crafted the cybersecurity program and brought it to the US and many other countries. He was always one step ahead in sales and marketing strategy, and I could rely on him to deliver the numbers.”

The Recipe to Success

It isn’t just Cohen’s ambitious professionalism that gets him ahead, especially in the case of Crack It. While he no doubt spots gaps better than the average person and continues to innovate beyond what one might expect, Cohen also sticks by his values. One of them is his love for collaboration.

While working from home and hybrid set-ups can erode office relationships, Cohen takes the step to always be of help to his colleagues. He acknowledges this, saying: “ I prefer daily face-to-face or Teams meetings over solitary work like coding or AI development.” After all, even with Crack It, he didn’t develop everything himself. He made sure to listen to experts, work with them as closely as possible, and collaborate to bring a dream product to life.

That’s one thing about Cohen: he doesn’t give up until he succeeds. Ido Steinberger, CEO of Ewave Mobile LTD, observed this, saying: “Ariel never gave up on bringing the right buyer for the company, he always kept his optimistic vibe and his good attitude, even when things went sideways in M&A and also in his business development in the US. For example, when one buyer gave up, he brought another, and when one deal fell through, he knew how to get us a new buyer.”

Amin Ben Ayoun, an investment banker who’s also a colleague of Cohen’s, chalks it all up to an innate analytical talent that contributes to his determination: “What I admire most about Ariel is his ability to conduct deep, meticulous analysis. Whether it was the companies he led or the firms he evaluated for acquisition, his understanding of organizational mechanics is profound. Furthermore, I highly value his talent for connecting with international entities and his unwavering commitment to meeting the highest global standards.”

At the same time, Cohen genuinely loves to work. As a worker, he prefers to be mobile, opting to travel to gain further experience and contribute his skills, all the while widening his horizons. At the end of the day, he derives satisfaction from being able to succeed, but he prefers such success to come alongside others — especially when he can leave a trail of good. He describes this preference to leave a positive impact as such: “I enjoy success and the ability to help others along the way—finding jobs, raising money, selling companies. The positive impact feels great, regardless of financial reward.”

All in all, it’s no wonder that Crack It will become the success it is. It’s no wonder that the man behind it is the success that he is. With Cohen leading Crack It, one can expect a trailblazer to continue succeeding in the food industry.

One shouldn’t be surprised to one day find Crack It in their grocery aisles. With everything Cohen contributes to innovation, it’s bound to become integrated into people’s lifestyles beyond being just another protein snack on the market.