Barak Ben-Avinoam

Dr. Barak Ben-Avinoam is an expert in the field of early-stage investments, technology start-ups, accelerators and incubators. Barak Ben-Avinoam is a Partner at Benhamou Global Ventures (BGV), an early-stage venture capital firm with deep Silicon Valley roots. BGV focuses on enterprise information technology global markets with a particular emphasis on mobility, cloud architectures and technologies, and cyber security. Prior to BGV, Barak was the Managing Partner at BBA Investments. The firm specializes in fund-raising and investment in early-stage companies. Prior to BBAI Barak Ben-Avinoam was Managing Partner at Fastlane Ventures, the leading Internet accelerator in Russia, and previously was an executive in two of the leading Israeli incubators in the internationally recognized Incubator Program led by the Israeli Office of the Chief Scientist. Barak Ben-Avinoam has excellent entrepreneurial, managerial & business development skills; performs well under pressure and at low budgets; possess a vast multi-disciplinary experience. Specialties: New venture creation, fund raising, IT & new media technologies, accelerators, incubators

Education:

• International School of Management 2002 – 2007
  Doctorate of Business Administration
  Concentration: Entrepreneurship and Cross-Cultural Management
• International School of Management 2000 – 2002
  MBA
  Concentration: Cross-Cultural Management
• Drexel University 1987 – 1989
  B.Sc.
  Concentration: Information Systems

Experience:

• Partner at Benhamou Global Ventures
  May 2013 - Present | Tel Aviv
  Benhamou Global Ventures (BGV) is an early-stage venture capital firm with deep Silicon Valley roots. BGV focuses on enterprise information technology global markets with a particular emphasis on mobility, cloud architectures and technologies, and cyber security.

• Partner at Benhamou Global Ventures
  May 2013 - Present | Palo Alto, CA
  Benhamou Global Ventures (BGV), an early-stage venture capital firm with deep Silicon Valley roots. BGV focuses on enterprise information technology global markets with a particular emphasis on mobility, cloud architectures and technologies, and cyber security.

• Managing Partner at BBA Investments
  August 2011 - Present
  BBA Investments is a boutique investment firm that specializes in fund-raising and investment in early-stage companies. In addition, the firm also advises on setting up and management of technology accelerators and incubators worldwide.

• Managing Partner at Fastlane Ventures
  October 2012 - July 2013 | Moscow, Russian Federation
  Consulted to Fastlane Ventures (FLV) on fund-raising and investment in early-stage companies. FLV is a unique Russian early-stage investment firm that focuses on consumer internet and e-commerce investments. The success of FLV is recognized on a world-wide basis. In 2011, Forbes magazine ranked FLV the No. 2 investor in Russia, and in 2012 FLV was recognized as the "Best VC of the Year"€ and "€œBest exit of the year"€ at the Private Equity conference in Moscow.

• Managing Director at QuantumWave Capital
  August 2011 - September 2012
  Consulted to QuantumWave Capital on developing the firm's business in the field of Technology Accelerators and Incubators, building upon my extensive experience in this area from my tenure at Iris Ventures and Lab-One. QuantumWave Capital provides highly specialized mergers and acquisitions investment-banking services to emerging technology companies innovating at the forefront of the mobile internet revolution.

• CEO at Iris Ventures
  August 2009 - July 2011
  Iris Ventures is a technology incubator that invests in early-stage Communications & IT start-up companies. As the CEO of the firm I handle the screening of potential investments and lead the business and legal negotiations with the selected companies. I also serve as a member at the Board of Directors of the portfolio companies. In addition, I maintained a close relationship with all leading VC'€™s and selected angel investors in order to assist the portfolio companies in their next financing rounds. As a Board Member at DroidSecurity, an Iris Ventures Portfolio Company, I played an instrumental role in completing the M&A transaction by AVG, the Anti-Virus Company. Iris Ventures is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Maayan Ventures, a publicly traded company (TASE: MAYN).

• COO at Lab-One Innovations (acquired by TheTime)
  August 2008 - August 2009
  Lab-One Innovations was a seed-stage investment firm that invests in Information & Communications Technology initiatives. As the COO of the firm I handled the initial screening of potential investments. I also served as a member at the Board of Directors of Lab-One's portfolio companies.

• Co-Founder & CEO at Prolify
  June 2004 - December 2006 | Israel
  Co-founded and led several investment round for this entreprise software company. At its peak, Prolify had more than 30 employees with offices in Israel and the US.

• General Manager, Europe at Business Layers
  August 2000 - August 2002

Interests & Activities:

• Member of the World Entrepreneur Forum (http://www.world-entrepreneurship-forum.com)
• Member of Global Leaders network (http://www.tgleaders.com./profile/BarakBenAvinoam)
• Frequent lecturer in MBA programs in France, China & Israel.