Professor Eugene Kandel is the CEO of the Start-Up Nation Central, a non-profit dedicated to strengthening Israel’s innovation ecosystem and connecting the world business, government, and NGO leaders to the people and technologies in Israel that can help them solve their most pressing problems.

Between 2009 and 2015 Professor Kandel served as the Head of the National Economic Council and as the Economic Adviser to the Prime Minister, and played a central role in all the major decisions on economic policy.

Kandel is the Emil Spyer Professor of Economics and Finance at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He holds a BA and an MA from the Hebrew University, and an MBA and a Ph.D. in Economics from the Graduate School of Business at the University of Chicago. Professor Kandel’s primary area of expertise is Financial Markets and Financial Intermediaries, and his research has been published in various worldleading Finance and Economics journals. hisresearch was instrumental in the 1997 redesign of the Nasdaq trading rules.

V.P. Business Development

Rani Kehat brings over 25 years of experience in Business Development, product go-to-market and  channel management in EMEA and APAC. His experience spans various disciplines including risk management, GRC and cyber security defense and advising and supporting various industries including Critical Information Infrastructures and ICS environments.

Prior to joining Radiflow Rani held several senior positions including Cyber Security Solutions leader at EMC and Director of Business Development for EMEA with Elbit’s Security division.

Rani holds a BSc in engineering from London Polytechnic University and an MBA in Marketing from Manchester University. He is also CISSP-certified Information Security Professional from ISC.

Scott Hiipakka assumed the role of the Chief Executive Officer of the Michigan Israel Business Accelerator in May 2019 where he is responsible for accelerating Michigan’s innovation ecosystem, one Israeli connection at a time.  With a focus in mobility, defense, cyber/AI, food+ag tech, and health/life sciences, his vision is to make Michigan a premier partner for Israeli innovation.

Prior, he served as the Director of the Office of Performance and Transformation for the State of Michigan where he was responsible for the integration of strategic programs along with overseeing planning, audit, process improvement, program management, and employee engagement for over 40,000 state employees.  Previously, he was the Program Management Director-Executive Office of the Governor. His responsibilities include oversight and integration of key state strategic initiatives, including synchronization of programs and deliverables that supported the Governor’s priorities.

Prior to his role in state government, Hiipakka worked in the private sector at a startup in the homeland security industry along previous experience in the medical, pharmaceutical, and manufacturing sectors.

Hiipakka is a member of the Michigan Army National Guard where he currently serves as the Land Component Commander and holds the rank of Colonel. His active duty military experience includes service in the US Army Ranger Regiment and other key leadership and advisor roles. Hiipakka has over 25 years of military service.

Hiipakka holds a bachelor’s degree in advertising from Michigan State University, a master’s degree in homeland security from Penn State University, and a master’s degree in strategic studies from the US Army War College. 

Shahar Haroush, VP Operations at ASOCS, comes from the Global technology Operations domain , from pre-sales, through supply chain to delivery of systems to sites around the world.

Shahar previously ran the Commerce and Global Logistics at Kramer Electronics and served as the COO of Sky and Space Global - a UK based sat-comm company.

Sivan Yechieli is a hi-tech executive, entrepreneur and public sector leader.  As former Mayor of Kfar-Vradim (2008-2018) and Chair of Israel's Northern Confrontation Line Forum, he was the steering force of the Northern Protection Plan: a government policy aimed at ensuring regional continuity in times of war.

Prior to his public service, Sivan held senior positions at local and international hi-tech companies. During his IDF service, he served as an Infantry and reconnaissance officer.

Sivan is a graduate of Stef Wertheimer College of Entrepreneurs. He holds a B.A. in Economics and Multidisciplinary Studies from Haifa University and an M.A. in Legal Studies from Bar-Ilan University.

Tal heads Value Creation and Investor Relations for Grove Ventures an Israeli VC focused on early stage deep tech investments. As part of Tal’s position at Grove, he is responsible to facilitate the relationship between the fund’s investors and the Israeli ecosystem. In addition, Tal is responsible to assist the fund’s portfolio companies connect with potential partners and scale their operations. Prior to joining Grove, Tal worked as a venture capital associate at a leading Israeli law firm. There, he was responsible for the incorporation of several venture capital funds, negotiating and structuring various types of M&A transactions and representation of many startups and multinational tech companies.

Tali drives the internal and external (open) innovation strategy for the Manufacturing Engineering Segment in Siemens Digital Industries Software.  

This includes building an innovation culture, where everyone has the motivation and tools to innovate;  nurturing new ideas from inception to launch;  testing new technologies and business models; working with research bodies and more.

Tali is also a founding partner in Siemens Dynamo – an open innovation program for startups in Israel, meant to accelerate integration of innovative technologies into Siemens Digital Industries. Dynamo’s goal is to bridge the gap between the corporate world and the startup eco system.

Tali has over 20 years of experience in manufacturing and software development. She joined Siemens through the UGS and Tecnomatix acquisitions.

Tali has a B.Sc. in computer engineering and a MBA from the Tel Aviv University in Israel.

Tally Zingher is the CEO and co-founder of Dawsat, a leading Arabic-language platform for health and wellness in the Middle East. Tally is a founding partner at Blue Laurel Advisors, an advisory firm focused on strategic opportunities across the MENA region. Tally is also an advisory board member of IL Ventures, an I4.0-focused venture fund. She previously practiced corporate law in New York with Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton and with Istithmar (Dubai World) in Dubai, UAE and was an M&A Investment Banker with Broadview (now Jefferies) in New York. 

Tally holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics and Middle Eastern studies from Harvard College, an M.P.A. in international development economics from the Harvard Kennedy School, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. Tally is currently a fellow of the Middle East Leadership Initiative of the Aspen Institute Global Leadership Network.

Tomomi Kosaka is the Operating Executive, Honda Motor Co., Ltd. And the Head of Production Engineering Supervisory Unit, Monozukuri Center, Automobile Operations.

Kosaka previously served as the vice president of Fuel Cell System Manufacturing LLC (FCSM) – the auto industry's first manufacturing joint venture to mass-produce an advanced hydrogen fuel cell system that will be used in future products .
Prior to joining FCSM, Kosaka was president & CEO of Honda of America Mfg., Inc., responsible for manufacturing operations of three auto plants and an engine plant in Ohio.

Kosaka's powertrain experience includes serving as general manager of the Power Train Production Engineering Division of Honda Engineering Co., Ltd. in 2007, as engine division manager at Honda Manufacturing of Alabama, LLC in 2008 and chief engineer and plant manager of the Anna Engine Plant in Anna, Ohio. Honda's largest auto engine plant in the world.

Kosaka joined Honda in April 1984 at Honda Engineering Co., Ltd. in Japan.

Mr. Gabai is the Co – General Manager and VP of Strategy of Start-Up Nation Central (SNC). This role includes overseeing strategy, policy and data and research activities in SNC. He also serves as the chairman of the board of Scale-Up Velocity, a human capital operations platform, working under the SNC umbrella, that specializes in hi-tech training programs. Prior to this role Mr. Gabai served for seven years as the Chief Strategy Officer and head of the strategy and economic division in the Israel Innovation Authority (previously the office of the chief scientist in the Israeli Ministry of Economy and Industry, or OCS). He has led the division since its establishment in October 2011, focusing on strategy, evaluation, budget planning and research. In this role he also led the transformation from the OCS to the Israel Innovation Authority. This included an in depth strategic, institutional, and organizational change. For five years prior to that appointment, Mr. Gabai was a senior economist at the National Economic Council in the Prime Minister’s Office. At the National Economic Council, he led the Macroeconomic team and was involved in several government initiatives, among which, a new fiscal rule for the Government of Israel, a 7 billion USD program for transportation infrastructure, a reform in the entitlement criteria for elderly citizens and more. Mr. Gabai is a regular participant in international forums dealing with innovation policy and lectures regularly on Israel's emergence as a leading country in technological innovation. In addition to his public position, Mr. Gabai is teaching courses in economics, focusing on economics of innovation and theoretical economics. Mr. Gabai holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and computer sciences from the Hebrew university, as well as a Master of Economics also from the Hebrew university, specializing in game theory.

Victoria Van Camp joined SKF 1996. She held a number of positions, based in; the Netherlands, US and now in Sweden. Her previous positions include, amongst others; President, Business and Product Development. Director, Industrial Market Technology and Solutions. Director, Product Innovation Lubrication BU.

Victoria was born in 1966 and holds a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering and a PhD. in Machine Elements from Luleå University of Technology Sweden.

Victoria Van Camp is a member of SKF Group Management, Kungliga Ingenjörsvetenskapsakademien (IVA) and she is also board member of Billerud Korsnäs AB and Amexci AB.

Viktor Miskovsky is an Investment Director and Member of the Board of INVEN CAPITAL, he joined the team in May 2016.

After almost 7 years with Arthur Andersen, Viktor moved to the industry where he held several senior manager positions and served as a board member of large corporations (including an electricity distribution company with more than 1 thousand employees) as well as smaller enterprises.

Viktor holds a Master‘s Degree in Chemistry from the University of Chemical technology in Prague and the Professional certification at the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants in Glasgow (ACCA).