Agenda
25 January 2021
Hour (CET)
9.00 - 9.05
9.05 - 9.15
9.15 - 9.25
9.25 - 9.40
9.40 - 9.50
9.50 - 10.25
10.25 - 10.45
10.45 - 11.00
11.00 - 11.10
11.10 - 11.45
11.45 - 12.05
12.05 - 12.20
12.20 - 12.30
12.30 - 13.05
13.05 - 13.25
13.25 - 14.25
Plenary Session
Orientation & Proceedings
Hanna-Kerli Metsala, EU-Israel Investment Study Outreach Expert
Welcome Remarks
Emanuele Giaufret, EU Ambassador to Israel; and Ido Alon, EU-Israel Investment Study Team Leader
Presentation on Current EU-Israel Trade & Investment Relations
Ido Alon, Study Team Leader
Part I. The High-Tech Sector
Key Findings for Deepening Investment Cooperation
Dr. Shai Harel, Senior Expert on Start-ups and Venture Capital in High-tech Sectors
Q&A
Panel discussion on Opportunities and Challenges for EU-Israel investment in the High-tech Sector
Adi Barel, Manager, European Institute of Technology
David Dana, Head of VC Investments, Disruptive Tech, European Invetsment Fund
Nili Shalev, Managing Director, Israel-EU Research and Innovation Directorate (ISERD), Israel Innovation Authority.
Cobi Bitton, CEO, Israel-Greece Chamber of Commerce & Founder/CEO, Integritas People & Business
Moderated by Uri Adoni, Partner at Sanara Capital, author, "The Unstoppable Startup – Mastering Israel's Secret Rules of Chutzpah"
Interactive Q&A
Part II. The Clean-Tech Sector
Key Findings for Deepening Investment Cooperation in the Clean-tech Sector
Ido Alon, Team Leader and Senior Expert in the Clean-tech Sector
Q&A
Panel discussion on Opportunities and Challenges for EU-Israel investment in the Clean-tech Sector
Noa Aharoni, Manager, Clean-tech, Israel Export Institute
Aviad Tamir, Head of Life Sciences & Healthcare, Invest in Israel
Luca Polizzi, Attaché Research and Innovation – EU Delegation to Israel
Dr. Jens Busse, Investment Manager, Bevonik Industries AG
Ronny Izhak, CEO, Synvertec
Moderated by Ziv Gottesfeld, Mentor and Coach, European Innovation Council & CEO, HPNow
Interactive Q&A
Part III. The Food-Tech Industry
Key Findings for Deepening Investment Cooperation in the Food-tech Sector
Ori Ellman, Senior Expert in the Food-tech Sector
Q&A
Panel discussion on Opportunities and Challenges for EU-Israel investment in the Food-Tech
Begoña Pérez Villareal, Director, European Institute of Innovation & Technology – Food – CIC South
Amir Rubin, Senior Division Manager, Ministry of Economy and Industry
Eliana Zamprogna, Chief Technology Officer, M-Industry, Migros
Nir Goldstein, Managing Director, Good Food Institute – Israel
Linda Boender, Associate Director, Rabo Food & Agri Innovation Fund
Moderated by Taly Nechushtan, Chairwoman, Food-tech Israel Export Institute & CEO, Innovopro
Interactive Q&A
Networking Session
Meet the Speakers
THE DELEGATION OF THE EUROPEAN UNION TO ISRAEL
Emanuele Giaufret
Ambassador of the European Union to the State of Israel
Ambassador Emanuele Giaufret arrived in Israel in 2017, following an extensive career in EU foreign policy. Most recently, he was Head of Division for Democracy and Electoral Observation at the European External Action Service (EEAS); Advisor to the Managing Director for North Africa and the Middle East; and prior to that he served in the EU Delegation to the UN in New York. This is Mr. Giaufret's second post in Israel; he headed the Economic and Political Section of the EU Delegation in Tel Aviv between 2003-2007. Before joining the EU, Mr. Giaufret worked for the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. He has a PhD in History of International Relations from the University of Florence and a Master's degree in European Affairs received from the College of Europe in Belgium. He is married and has three children.
Part I. The High-Tech Sector
Nili Shalev
Director General,
ISERD - The Israel-EU R&D Directorate, Israel Innovation Authority
Nili Shalev has more than 20 years of experience representing the Israeli Ministry of Economy and Industry in a wide range of executive positions.
Appointed to her present position in the summer of 2016, Mrs. Shalev is responsible for the implementation of the Israel-EU agreement on Research and Development, Horizon2020, creating support- infrastructure and initiating activities for promoting industrial and academic R&D cooperation between Israel and Europe through a variety of multilateral and binational platforms.
David Dana
Head of VC Investments – European Investment Fund
David is heading the Tech VC Team of the EIF, where he has been working for almost ten years. Previously, he has been in charge of EIF investments in VC funds in France, Israel, and of the Luxembourg Future Fund. David was also overviewing EIF activities with Accelerators.
David has been investing in all the sectors covered by EIF investment programs, such as ICT, Life Sciences, and Cleantech. To date, David has made 60+ commitments in VC funds (approx. EUR 3bn of commitments) from micro-seed strategies to growth financing. David is a regular speaker in industry conferences and tech events.
Adi Barel
Managing Director,
European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) Israel Hub
Adi is an internationally renowned expert in innovation and business development, specializing in strategy, partnership building, and global networking.
Today, Adi is Managing Director of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) Israel Hub, an organization that aims to create synergies between the European innovation community and the Israeli ecosystem, founding strong collaborations and international partnerships. She was formerly Director of International Business Development the Tel Aviv Municipality, awarding her vast knowledge and experience with the Israeli ecosystem. Adi is leading the Hub with a dynamic team, designing, developing and executing a wide variety of programmes, which include webinars, tailor-made training, open innovation and technology scouting, matchmaking, and startups support.
Most recently, during the Covid-19 global pandemic, the hub quickly adapted to the new reality, finding creative solutions to continue supporting the global innovation community, and promoting significant ties and collaborations while maintaining the new restrictions. Adi is a certified lawyer and has an LLM from Tel Aviv University and Northwestern.
Cobi Bitton
CEO, Israel - Greece Chamber of Commerce and Industry
In addition to being the head of the Israel-Greece Chamber of Commerce, Cobi Bitton is also the founder & CEO of Integritas People & Business. Bitton is the Director of Business Development and Marketing in industrial and R&D private owned companies in Israel and abroad, and has extenssive experience in business development and innovation methodology in addition to standards and regulations in Israel and abroad.
Moderated by
Uri Adoni
Partner at Sanara Capital, author,
"The Unstoppable Startup – Mastering Israel's Secret Rules of Chutzpah"
Uri Adoni is a venture capitalist, angel investor, board member, speaker and the author of the book "The Unstoppable Startup – Mastering Israel's Secret Rules of Chutzpah", published by Harper Collins.
Uri has over 20 years of experience in high-tech and over 12 years of being a partner at Jerusalem Venture Partners Media Labs. JVP is one of Israel's leading venture capitals with an impressive track record of IPO's on NASDAQ and M&A's to large leading multinationals. Adoni served on the board of several high-tech companies, early and late stage ones. Prior to joining JVP Uri was the CEO of MSN Israel (Microsoft Networks).
In the last two years he was working with a U.S.-based real estate entrepreneur who is developing a new and innovative approach for building local high-tech ecosystems and communities across the U.S. He has recently joined Sanara Capital, a digital health fund, as a General Partner.
Most recently, during the Covid-19 global pandemic, the hub quickly adapted to the new reality, finding creative solutions to continue supporting the global innovation community, and promoting significant ties and collaborations while maintaining the new restrictions. Adi is a certified lawyer and has an LLM from Tel Aviv University and Northwestern.
Part II. The Clean-Tech Sector
Aviad Tamir
Head of Life Sciences & Healthcare at Invest in Israel
Aviad Tamir is the Head of Life Sciences & Healthcare at Invest in Israel, helping multinationals establish their operations in Israel. His professional experience spans across Israel and abroad working with Pharmaceutical & Healthcare industries, specializing in International Business Development & Strategic Partnerships within the private and public sectors. Previously, Aviad worked at the Ministry of Defense, Mission to the U.S. managing procurement projects for the IDF, and the Office of the Prime Minister as an Advisor to the Director General of the Ministry for Senior Citizens.
Noa Aharoni
Head of Cleantech & Smart Infrastructure Unit,
the Israel Export Institute
As head of Cleantech & Smart Infrastructure in IEI, Noa holds a close acquaintance with the Israeli ecosystem of Cleantech, Energy, Contech and PropTech. This familiarity gives her deep insights on the emerging technologies available and allows her to serve as the gateway for the Israeli Ecosystem to dozens of multinationals, corporates and global industry leaders annually.
Luca Polizzi
Attaché Research and Innovation – EU Delegation to Israel
Active in the area of science and climate diplomacy, Luca Polizzi is Attaché for Research and Innovation as part of the European Union (EU) Diplomatic Service in Tel Aviv since November 2019. Previously, he was Research Policy Officer for Africa, the Gulf and Neighbourhood at the European Commission, DG for Research and Innovation. Between 2017 and 2018, he was Policy Assistant Director of industrial technologies in the same DG after spending one year in the Unit of Nanotechnologies and Advanced Materials. Before joining the Commission, he worked for three years at KAUST in Saudi Arabia looking after Research Programmes with the USA. Between 2006 and 2014, he was Senior Research Policy and Funding Executive at EU Office of Scottish Enterprise, the Government Agency for innovation. Lecturer and guest speaker on EU policies in organisations including the College of Europe, Cattolica of Milan, European Institute of Public Administration, University of Glasgow, Edinburgh and St. Andrews. In 2015, visiting professor at the University of Sassari. Between 2004 and 2006 Professor in EU Law at Marconi University, in Rome. Graduated from “La Sapienza”, earned his MA at KU Leuven, and currently completing his PhD at the VUB in science diplomacy and Middle East. He is married and has three children.
Dr. Jens Busse
Investment Manager, Evonik Venture Capital GmbH
Jens has over 18 years of experience in the chemical industry with experience in process technology, membrane technology, hydrogen processing, process simulation, energy management, venture capital and portfolio management. He serves as a Supervisory Board member for a number of Evonik Venture Capital’s portfolio companies. Previously, he was Head of the Development Line “Energy Generation” and Growth Area “Upstream Solutions” at Creavis, the strategic research department at Evonik Industries AG. Prior to starting his career working within the process technology department of Degussa in 2001, Jens studied mechanical engineering and process technology at the Ruhr University Bochum, where he earned his PhD in 2001 in the field of process synthesis.
Ronny Izhak
CEO, Synvertec
Izhak is a power electronics expert and his expertise are: Inverters design, PV Solar large fields design and optimizing with special attention to, energy reclaim in order to allow maximization of power yield, PV Solar Electronic appliances development, PV Solar special designs etc.
Ronny was a pioneer of the solar optimizers and balancers market, for large scale PV and CPV plants, as a chief engineer of the Israeli innovative Watts and More start-up company
Ronny has years of experience with problem solving and problems preventing design for large PV plants in Europe, mainly in the well-known Italian and Spanish PV markets.
Prior to Synvertec Ronny was the Chief engineer of Watts and More and the Power Engineer of Essence-Solar, two Israeli start-ups.
Ronny holds a B.Sc. degree from Israeli HIT with power electronics expertise and MBA degree from Israeli Bar-Ilan University with finance expertise and he is basic Spanish speaker, Hebrew and English mother tongue.
Moderated by
Ziv Gottesfeld
Mentor and Coach, European Innovation Council & CEO, HPNow
Ziv Gottesfeld is an accomplished clean-tech entrepreneur and CEO, highly experienced in taking disruptive technology-based ventures from concept to market and scale up. He has worked across business and financial cultures in Europe, Israel and the US. Ziv is the CEO and co-founder of Copenhagen-HQ’d HPNow ApS, addressing growing global clean water challenges through autonomous, safe and sustainable peroxide generation solutions. Prior to HPNow, Ziv co-founded and led CellEra, an Israeli-based platinum-free fuel cell company which was acquired by Elbit in 2014. Before CellEra, Ziv co-founded and led ventures in materials and energy storage, as well as audio and video recognition. Ziv is an SME coach under the EIC Pilot’s SME program. He holds a BSc. in Physics from Tel Aviv University (Magna Cum Laude), and a MSc from the Weizmann Institute of Science.
Part III. The Food-Tech Sector
Begoña Pérez-Villarreal
Director of the EIT Food Innovation hub for Southern Europe
Begoña Pérez-Villarreal is the Director of the EIT Food Innovation hub for Southern Europe (www.eitfood.eu), aimed to boost innovation involving stakeholders from Portugal, Spain, Italy, Greece, Turkey and Israel. Their main activity is related to building a dynamic ecosystem developing collaborative projects and activities in business creation, education, innovation and communication programs to develop products and services contributing to a healthy lifestyle and a sustainable circular bio-economy.
Yakov Poleg
Deputy Director General, Foreign Trade Centre,
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) Israel
Yakov Poleg is the Deputy Director General Foreign Trade and International Cooperation (CFTIC) at the MARD, Representing Israeli agricultural sector’s objectives and interests in the international arena. He works closely with other ministries and high official government representatives, experts and professionals to implement Israel's agricultural cooperation policy. He is responsible for designing and implementing MARD’s trade policy (Bilateral and Multilateral). In addition, he is involved in promoting Israel's food security, advocating the development of smart technologies and innovative approaches to ensure resilient food systems and climate change adaptation.
Eliana Zamprogna
CTO, M-INDUSTRY, MIGROS
Eliana Zamprogna has been Chief Technology Officer at the Migros Industry since 2017. Before joining Migros, Eliana held various leading positions at the Bühler Group, including the role of Director of R&D for Grain Processing Division, and that of Sustainability Officer for the Group. She also worked in academic research at the University of Padova (Italy) and at University of California, Santa Barbara (USA). She holds a degree in chemical engineering and a doctorate in process optimization from the University of Padova. She also received business management education from the IMD Business School and the Harvard Business School. Since 2018, Eliana Zamprogna serves on the board of the start-up programs Kickstart Accelerator and VentureKick.
Nir Goldstein
Managing Director, Good Food Institute – Israel
Nir leads The Good Food Institute's work in Israel. GFI focuses on accelerating the penetration of alternative protein technologies to global markets. GFI promotes plant-based, fermented and cultivated meat eggs and dairy through 3 programmatic areas: Science and Technology, Policy and Corporate Engagement. Prior to GFI, Nir worked as a management consultant to startups, investors, food manufacturers and NGOs. He is a member of the Israeli Bar, holds an LLB Law degree and an MBA degree from The Hebrew University.
Linda Boender
Associate Director, Rabo Food & Agri Innovation Fund
Linda Boender is a venture capital investment manager at Rabo Corporate Investments (RCI), the captive investment arm of Rabobank. RCI manages a EUR 2b allocation, part of which is invested in early-stage Food&Ag companies in Europe, Israel and USA. Linda has a background in strategy consulting and food retail.
Moderated by
Taly Nechushtan
CEO, Innovopro & Chairwoman, Food-Tech, Israel Export Institute
With more than 20 years of experience in building new companies and transitioning companies through mergers and acquisitions, Taly brings strong leadership and strategist skills to her role as CEO of Innovopro. She has applied her experience in various management roles, using innovative strategies while working in global corporations in the fields of food, communications, and renewable energies. Taly is a highly-respected leader in the world Foodtech ecosystem, also serving as Chairperson of the Foodtech Industry at the Israel Export Institute.
Taly holds a BA in Economics and an MBA, both from Tel Aviv University.