Steering Committee
Yoav Chelouche – Aviv Venture Capital,Managing Partner
Yoav Chelouche has twenty years of experience in management, initiation and investments in the global high-tech arena. Prior to Aviv Venture Capital, Yoav served as President & CEO of Scitex Corp. Prior to that, over a period of 15 years Yoav held several management positions in Scitex including VP Strategy and Business Development, VP Marketing, VP Finance – Europe. Among his achievements: Led strategy and implementation of acquisition program that ultimately generated 50% of corporate revenues, created International Joint Ventures – the JV in Japan was the first between Japanese and Israeli companies and had highest profitability in the group.
Management Team
Boaz Mamo - Israel Innovation Institute, Communities Manager; Executive Director of EcoMotion
8+ years of experience in business development and project management; Business developer for Digital Fuel, an Israeli start-up company, responsible for project management at Young Judea; holds a B.A. and an M.B.A. (Specializing in finance and strategy), the Hebrew University, Jerusalem.
Lior Zeno- Israel Innovation Institute, Ecomotion Project Manager
Former business journalist for The Marker-Haaretz newspaper, specializing in capital markets and energy; Project management and logistics at Birthright Israel (Taglit); B.A. in Economics and Communication, the Hebrew University, Jerusalem.
Karen Mohr- Ecomotion Analyst
Raised in a binational environment, Karen is a freelance translator and is experienced in public diplomacy through various organizations and past military service. She is currently completing a B.A in Politics, Government and General History at Ben-Gurion University.
Meir Arnon- Ecomotion Chairman, Founder and CEO, Focus Capital Group
Mr. Arnon founded Focus Capital Group (FCG) – an Investment Boutique based in Israel, in 1988 and currently serves as its Chairman and CEO.
Since its establishment and under Arnon’s leadership, FCG has initiated and concluded various transactions, some by bringing Fortune 100 companies such as EDS, Frito Lay, P&G, Kimberly Clark and others to buy companies in Israel, and some buy acquiring troubled publically traded industrial companies such as Atas, Gambit, Robomatics, Zion Textiles and Vulcan, turning them around and selling them to industrial or strategic buyers.
Prior to founding FCG, Arnon served as Co- Founder and Chairman of New Dimension Software that was later sold to BMC Software.
Arnon is an active member of the YPO-WPO organization, Co- Fonder of the Israeli Chapter and a champion in many events and Chapters worldwide. He is a board member of The Herzliya Hebrew Gymnasium, active member of the BOD of EUROBAT and he is Co-Founder and Chairman of EcoMotion – A global interdisciplinary community engaged in Smart Transportation
Eviatar Tron- GM Israel, Lab Manager
Eviatar is a former software and IT consultant who transitioned into system engineering and test management. After studying in the school of visual theatre and doing artistic work, Eviatar dealt with wind turbine development, and is currently a lab manager for General Motors Israeli research center. Eviatar holds a BSc from the Technion and MSc cum laude from TAU, during which he published articles in leading journals on mathematical modeling of animal behavior. Eviatar was a consultant, trainer and product developer, and has registered patents in various fields. Eviatar is the founder of GREEK – Green Geek – a community of creational-technological-environmental thinkers.
Mike Bailey - Keren Hayesod - UIA, Director of Development
In his position, Mike is responsible for the organization product development strategy. Previously, he was Director of English-speaking countries and of Major Donors for 5 years during which the income from this region increased by over 60% from US$ 21 million to a record US$ 35 million in 2008. Mike is a lawyer who graduated from Hebrew University, and holds an M.A degree in Organizational Consulting for non-profit organizations from Bar-Ilan University.
Ela Strauss- Ministry of Science, Technology and Space. Director, Division of Materials, Chemistry and Energy research. (Avi Anati- Ministry of Science, Technology and Space, Deputy Director General for Planning & Control)
Eyal Rosner- The Alternative Fuels Initiative in the Israeli Prime Minister's Office, Chairman
Eyal chairs the government's inter-departmental steering committee that determines the program's goals. He is head of the program's administration, responsible for developing and executing the program's strategy while coordinating nine participating government departments. Previously, Rosner was CEO of the Borovitz Mozes Group, a $3 billion privately held company. Prior to that, he was a vice president at Bankers Trust and an advisor to the Israeli government and the Israeli Space Agency. He served as captain in the Israeli Navy after graduating from the Israeli Naval Academy. He earned a bachelor's degree from Tel Aviv University.
Leonid Bakman- Israel Innovation Institute, Founder & Executive Director
Entrepreneur and Business Developer of Seed-Stage High-Tech Ventures. Consultant in STI strategic development and policy design to the National Economic Council of the Prime Minister’s Office and the National Research and Development Council; Lecturer in MBA program, School of Business Administration, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Arie Zaban - Director of the Bar Ilan Institute for Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials
Arie holds a PhD in electrochemistry from Bar-Ilan University and did post-doctoral study at the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory in photophysics and photoelectrochemistry. His research is on dye sensitized solar cells and organic semiconductors. In 2011 he received The Israeli Vacuum Society (IVS) Research Excellence Prize.
Avi Tzur- Alaid, Director of Buisness Development
Avi was CEO of Champion Motors (a subsidiary of Alaid Group) for the past 6 years and led the company to double its sales and almost triple its market share. Previously the Marketing Manager of Partner and Manager of the Mercedes division in Colmobil Group. Avi holds an MBA from Tel-Aviv University, and a BEng in Mechanical Engineering from the Technion.
Shay Soffer, PhD.- Israel Ministry of Transport, Chief scientist
Shay advises the Minister and Director General of Israel’s Ministry of Transport and Road Safety, is responsible for building annual and multi-year strategic plans, and the manager of National Research for Transport. In his previous positions, Shay was Chief Scientist of Israel National Road Safety Authority, Assistant to the Vice President of Business Development and Technology and to the Chief Scientist at Elop Industries of Elbit Systems. Shay holds a PhD from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Physics and Industry, and Masters (MSc) degree from Department of Physical Chemistry at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
