Board of Directors
Dr. Rafi Gidron Chairman of the Board
Rafi was co-founder, co-CEO, and Chairman of Chromatis Networks, a company he started in 1997 to develop optical equipment for the telecommunications market. Chromatis was sold to Lucent in May 2000 for $4.75 billion.
Prior to founding Chromatis, Rafi served as Chairman of Scorpio Communications Ltd. and President of Scorpio Communications Inc., which he founded in 1993. Scorpio was sold to US Robotics in 1996 for $72 million. Following the acquisition, Rafi developed US Robotics’ strategy in the telecom market.
Rafi also served as an associate director of the Center for Telecommunications Research (CTR) at Columbia University, where he managed telecommunications research projects.
Rafi holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Tel Aviv University and a Master of Science and Ph.D. degrees from Columbia University, New York, NY.
Gonen Fink Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Pythagoras Solar
As Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Fink is responsible for overseeing the growth of the company and directing strategic expansion. Before founding Pythagoras Solar, Mr. Fink was at Check Point Software Technologies (CHKP) for twelve years as Vice President of Products and Solutions & Strategy. As one of Check Point’s first employees, Mr. Fink was instrumental in building the company from an early stage start-up to a multibillion dollar global market leader in internet security. Prior to Check Point, Mr. Fink served for seven years in the Israeli Defense Force’s elite intelligence unit as a Major and continued as a strategic planning consultant to the Ministry of Defense. Mr. Fink holds a B.Sc. summa cum laude in Physics and Computer Science, as well as an M.A. in Digital Philosophy, from the Tel Aviv University, Israel.
Boaz Dinte, Managing Partner, Evergreen Venture Partners
Boaz Dinte is a Managing Partner at Evergreen Venture Partners. Boaz joined Evergreen in 1996. He focuses on Evergreen's investments in the communications and semiconductor sectors. Prior to joining Evergreen, Boaz was Corporate Business Development Manager for M-Systems Ltd. which was acquired by SanDisk (NASDAQ: SNDK). Boaz initiated and was responsible for Evergreen's investments in Exalink which was acquired by Comverse (NASDAQ: CMVT), Metalink (NASDAQ: MTLK), P-cube that was acquired by Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO), Envara that was acquired by Intel (NASDAQ: INTC), BigBand (NASDAQ: BBND) and Dune Networks which was acquired by Broadcom (NASDAQ:BRCM). Boaz is currently acting as a board member in Pontis, Crescendo Networks, Precede Technologies, Pythagoras Solar and N-trig.
Boaz holds a B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering, specializing in computer design and communications from the Technion, and has an MBA (Magna Cum Laude) from Tel Aviv University.
Evergreen Venture Partners
Evergreen Venture Partners was established in 1987 as one of Israel’s first venture capital firms. Evergreen invests in early-stage Israeli and Israel-related companies in the following fields: software, Internet & media, communications and healthcare. Evergreen’s $650 million of venture capital funds under management represents one of the largest portfolios in Israel with investments in 110 technology start-ups. Evergreen has exited successfully 35 portfolio companies through IPOs and acquisitions. Some of these companies include Traiana, Colbar, Identify, BigBand, P-Cube, Actona, Backweb, Exalink, Radvision and Radware.
The current portfolio includes some very promising companies such as: e-Glue, Amimon, Press-sense, Varonis, Transpharma, Flash Networks, Exanet and more. Evergreen is currently investing from its fifth generation fund, Evergreen V, a $200M fund, which was recently closed.
Meir Ukeles, Partner, Israel Cleantech Ventures
Meir’s investment activities are focused on solar, waste to energy and smart grid technologies. Meir brings extensive financial, market and strategic analysis, public and private equity deal execution and technology understanding to ICV.
Previously Meir served as CFO of Sentry Technology Group Inc., an Israeli-US defense startup. From 2000 to 2004, he worked as an investment banker and research analyst at SG Cowen, a leading technology and healthcare investment bank, leading transactions for Israeli and US companies including public and private offerings and M&A transactions involving US, European and Israeli corporations.
Meir began his venture capital career in the mid 1990’s at Jerusalem Global Ltd., an Israeli merchant bank that was a leading source of private equity funding for Israeli tech companies during the 1990s. He led the angel financing of QXL Ltd., an investment which generated the highest IRR in the firm's history. He also worked on the initiation and structuring of a joint venture between Jerusalem Global and CDC, Taiwan’s largest investment bank.
He is a founding member of the Israel Clean Energy Forum, established in September 2009 to promote Israel government policy on renewable energy and energy efficiency. Meir holds a B.A., magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Columbia College in Political Science and East Asian Studies. He served as an officer in the Israeli Defense Forces in one of its elite technology units.
Israel Cleantech Ventures
Established in 2006, Israel Cleantech Ventures is the first venture capital fund dedicated to providing value added growth capital to exceptional entrepreneurs building Israel’s energy, water and environmental technology leaders.
Israel Cleantech Ventures’ investment professionals combine significant experience in building technology companies with deep industry understanding gained through decades in senior management positions at Israel’s prominent cleantech companies. The team has an extensive network in Israeli & global cleantech and VC communities, providing superior access to the flow of emerging companies as well as the critical tools to help those companies flourish in the global marketplace.
Chemi Peres, Managing General Partner and Co-Founder Pitango Venture Capital
Mr. Chemi Peres is a Managing General Partner and Co-Founder of the Pitango Venture Capital partnership. In 1992, he founded the Mofet Israel Technology Fund, an Israeli venture capital fund publicly traded on the TASE (Tel Aviv Stock Exchange), which he managed until 1996, when he co-founded Pitango. Prior to Mofet, he was VP Marketing and Business Development at Decision Systems Israel (DSI), and a Senior Consultant to Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI). Mr. Peres served as a pilot in the Israeli Air Force for 10 years. He holds an MBA degree and a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering & Management from Tel Aviv University. He continues to be involved in the University and education in general, by serving on the Board of Directors of Ramot, the commercial arm of the Tel Aviv University that focuses on Technology Transfer, and he is Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Faculty of Management. He also serves on the Board of the Weizmann Institute of Science as well as on the Board of the IDC- Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya.
Pitango Venture Capital
Pitango Venture Capital, the leading venture capital firm in Israel, has been investing in technology entrepreneurs since 1993. With offices in Israel and Silicon Valley, California, Pitango currently manages several venture funds totaling over $1.3 billion in committed capital invested in more than 100 companies. Pitango invests in high-growth companies in seed and early stages, supporting them as they grow. Pitango’s investment focus includes: Communications; Networking & Storage; Wireless, Cellular and Mobile technologies; Enterprise Software, Internet and Media; Healthcare & Life Sciences, and Clean Technologies.
Orni Petruschka, Partner, Precede Technologies
A Partner at Precede Technologies, Orni is a high-tech entrepreneur who has co-founded and managed a number of companies in the area of telecommunications and alternative energies. He holds a BSc from the Technion and a Masters degree from Cornell University.
Precede Technologies
Precede Technologies is an entrepreneurship and investment firm which teams up with scientists and inventors to establish well-funded start-up companies. Precede focuses on IP intensive technologies in high-growth markets, such as the Cleantech industry. With offices in Israel and the Silicon Valley, Precede provides financial, managerial and entrepreneurial resources required to create and nurture early-stage ventures. Precede is backed by venture capital funds and is managed by a team of accomplished entrepreneurs.