Tech personalities of 2021

Yinnon Dolev, head of Sompo Digital Lab Israel & Europe Sompo Holdings 

Elon Musk – Breaking Conventions 

"Elon Musk is best known for being the entrepreneur, CEO and spirit behind Tesla, but, actually, he is more of a parallel entrepreneur, who stands behind several other companies such as SpaceX, Open AI, The Boring Company, Neuralink, Solar City and more. He is an inspiration because he is self taught, and thinks outside the box while breaking conventions, such as the 'box' itself.

At Tesla he disrupted the car industry through a direct-to-consumer sales model (it has nothing to do with 'electric cars' which is also a disruption ), while eliminating the need for car agencies, maintaining the brand and the perception that a car is a digital platform through which services and applications can be provided to the driver. Despite controversial comments, his contribution to humanity through technology is enormous."

Keren Hillel, Global Group CFO, Juganu, which develops AI based solutions for smart cities and retail 

Eynat Guez, CEO and entrepreneur of Papaya Global – Female Unicorn 

My woman of the year is Eynat Guez, one of the most prominent entrepreneurs in the market, who leads a unicorn on its way to an IPO. Einat demonstrates leadership can coexist with humility and humanity. Throughout her three pregnancies, the company continued growing, showing that motherhood and career are possible. She is not afraid to express herself, and always assists colleagues with a smile".

Yarden Mamrud, Head of Innovation at Tadiran Group 

Professor Sarah Gilbert and Dr. Catherine Green, inventors of AstraZeneca’s Covid vaccine. Hope for the World

"Pure inspiration. Led by women.There is a general perception that science is for men. Yet, there is no reason why women can’t be as successful.The two scientists at an academic lab in Oxford led the development of a world changing solution weeks before the virus full devastation broke. Professor Dame Sarah Gilbert and Dr Catherine Green, announced their life-saving vaccine in November last year and provided world hope. For me, it's truly inspirational and a reminder that strong women-led partnerships can have such a large impact for good on tomorrow’s world.”

Adv. Hili Rashkovan, senior partner in corporate and licensing groups at Pearl Cohen Zedek Latzer Baratz 

Aviv Tzidon, founder& CEO at Phinergy Energy Revolution

"Phinergy, licensed and pioneers patented technology from Bar Ilan University that utilizes aluminum as fuel for renewable batteries used for energy storage and mobility applications. He led a TASE IPO earlier this year. A self-taught entrepreneur, inventor, and fundraiser, Aviv, along with the talented professionals he surrounded himself with, took aluminum air from the lab to a made in Israel sought-after product with worldwide implications for clean energy."

Moshiel Biton, Addionics CEO & cofounder specializing in smart energy solutions 

Yotpo COO and co-founder Omri Cohen - Strategic Partnership with Shopify

"This past year the team of Yotpo, that include almost 1000 employees, took incredible steps on the road to a Nasdaq IPO in 2022 after completing a $230 million F round including a strategic investment and partnership with commerce giant Shopify. As a cofounder myself, I know how important it is to find and have the right partner to accompany you on the challenging, crazy, and successful paths and Omri is exactly that. More important than technology and innovation arepeople, and Omri is the finest". 

Adv. Tamar Krongrad, partner and head of commercial cross-border practice at Tadmor Levy & Co 

Ornit Shinar, Global Head of External Innovation & Venture Investing – Brimming with Energy

"Ornit Shinar established the fintech accelerator program at TLV Innovation Lab, and serves as Head of External Innovation & Venture Investing Israel at Citi Ventures, focusing on Security and Enterprise IT, Commerce and Payments, Data Analytics, and Machine Learning.  Previously she was CEO of Sendm, a cross-network communication offered to three million people in 60 different countries, and in charge of external innovation and business development for Lenovo in Europe and Israel. She serves on countless boards and brims over with enormous energy. She is a co-founder of "Yazamiyut" - a non-profit organization enabling women entrepreneurs in startups to network and assist each other, and has served as co-chair, Citi women in business Israel at Citi. Always insightful, always willing to help, upbeat and with great perspective, Ornit brings great advantages to any project."

Ephrat Mor, Head of HR at Yahoo Israel Vision, Inspiration and Boldness

Merav Rotem Naaman, general partner "State of Mind Ventures".

"I met Merav 6 years ago when I began at AOL. Merav co-founded and lead Nautilus - AOL’s investment and scouting arm in Israel; a growth platform helping startups. After AOL was acquired by Verizon, Merav became Verizon Ventures Israel to  invest in both early and late-stage companies. Two months ago, Merav established Mind Ventures as a seed and early growth stage venture capital fund, focusing on the people that drive our world forward. I chose Merav for her vision, inspiration, and boldness, founding a new company in an area that is mostly led by men, changing the map, and encouraging other women in this field."

Rotem Regev, Head of Community and Sales, WeWork Israel

Tommy Bar-Av, CEO and Co-Founder of Magical

"I have a lot of respect for entrepreneurs in general but Tommy's story I love, thanks to the fact it’s not the orthodox way of how startups come to be. No matter what path he was walking, he knew to focus on his passion. This year Tommy decided to found his own startup with the ambitious mission - a world of 'Zero Time Waste'. His co-founder, first employees and even some of the investors came from the ‘Supertools’ community, that he has founded in 2018. While companies try to build communities around their business, Tommy did it the other way around, he built his business around his community".

Adv. Hila Shribman, partner and head of digital technology and regulations at Amit, Pollak, Matalon & Co law firm 

Assaf Eisenstein, Co- founder and president at "Lusha" – The Sky is the Limit.

"In today's world any platform such as Lusha which offers services aimed to increase sales, specifically based on data analysis, is highly regulated. I have been working with Lusha and personally with Assaf for a couple of years now and can testify that he makes a great deal in ensuring compliance with various regulations and platform requirements. Assaf shows that the sky is the limit and leads Lusha's talented and creative personnel in an inspiring way to outstanding success and has made Lusha a unicorn". 

Dror Blumenthal, VP of B2C at "BUYME" 

Amit Rapaport, Compete CEO and cofounder - Reinventing Herself

”I love the idea and the journey behind Compete, a fast growing early-stage company which provides tech companies with immediate insights into complete compensation package data. At Compete Amit re-invented herself from a recruiter to an entrepreneur Compete is a very promising company and Amit is an inspiring individual, leading the company, with vision and a team with exceptional expertise".

Eyal Hofman, Managing Partner at "Highroad" Accelerator 

Rachali Vizman, CEO and co-founder of "SavorEat". Impacting the Environment

"Being an entrepreneur is tough, especially when your idea is revolutionary (like the one behind SavorEat). SavorEat is is truly disrupting traditional industries with a non-trivial approach and revolutionary spirit. One of the most important things that make a good leader is the ability to overcome obstacles and adjust, even when things get rough (they always do). Moreover, a great leader should be pushing through all that, keep moving forward and plan ahead - like Racheli has. She also led the company through the first food-tech IPO on the TASE. Most of all, I choose her for her courage, perseverance and positive impact on the environment".