Featuring Avi Hasson, CEO of Start-Up Nation Central, in conversation with Ambassador Ido Aharoni.
Avi Hasson’s career spans executive leadership roles in the business, technology, and not-for-profit sectors. He served as Chief Scientist at Israel’s Ministry of Economy and Industry, and as Founding Chairman of the Israel Innovation Authority (IIA), the government entity tasked with planning and executing innovation policy in Israel. Prior to his government service, Hasson was a General Partner at Gemini Israel Funds, one of Israel’s top venture capital firms. Upon leaving his position at the IIA, he joined early-stage venture firm Emerge as a General Partner and serves on the board of Tower Semiconductor (NASDAQ: TSEM) – the leading foundry of high-value analog semiconductor solutions. In addition to his long record of public service, Avi has distinguished himself as a leader with some of Israel’s most important not-for-profit organizations. He serves on the board of the Sheba Medical Center, SpaceIL – an organization promoting scientific and tech education with the aim of landing the first Israeli spacecraft on the moon – and the Israel Tech Challenge, which offers tech-training programs to address Israel’s industry-wide tech talent shortage. Hasson completed his B.A. in Economics and Middle Eastern Studies and his MBA at Tel Aviv University.