As Israeli tech continues to evolve from Startup Nation to something a bit more mature, call it Scale-up Nation or Unicorn Nation, I become aware of more and more remarkable people doing extraordinary things to disrupt and enhance our lives.
Over the past few years, I have noticed a growing number of couples and siblings who are doing some incredible things and since Israelis are so good at tech and so weak at marketing (Yes, I am generalizing.), chances are you never even heard of half these people, so I figured I would highlight them.
Here are 12 duos doing amazing things and who also happen to be either married or siblings:
Zvi Schreiber (CEO, Freightos) and Daniel Schreiber (CEO, Lemonade)
Here are two brothers building large successful companies both of which are taking on multi billion dollar industries and fundamentally changing them. The thing is, I recently discovered that Zvi and Daniel are only two of several other siblings in the family doing remarkable things. The last time I saw Daniel, I asked him what their parents gave them for breakfast when they were kids, because seriously, as far as families go, it doesn’t get much better than the Schreibers.
Mor Assia (Founding Partner, iAngels) and Yoni Assia (CEO, eToro)
Talk about a power couple! Mor started and scaled iAngels, a truly interesting take on the VC world, along with her partner, Shelly Hod Moyal. Her other partner, Yoni Assia built eToro, which is a company taking on the traditional world of financial trading. Both companies scaling fast, both disrupting massive industries that were ripe for disruption.
Eyal Gura (CEO, Zebra Medical) and Ron Gura (SVP Product, WeWork)
Both Eyal and Ron, besides being incredibly nice people, building some truly impactful tech, not to mention actively investing in other entrepreneurs doing amazing things. Eyal is building Zebra Medical, a company taking on the medical world using AI and Machine Learning, and Ron is leading the product and tech behind one of the fastest growing companies in history, Wework. Two insanely talented individuals building tech that is changing the world.
Oh, and Maya Gura, who is now the co-founder of Missbeez, was previously a co-founder with Ron Gura at TheGiftsProject, which was acquired by eBay. She is married to Eyal Gura, so there’s that too. How do I get an invite to their family events?
Efrat Dagan (Head of Talent Acquisition, Lyft) and Moshik Raccah (CEO, Silo)
Efrat is one of my favorite people, period. She led recruiting at Google, first in Israel, then globally for Google and recently joined Lyft, which is in my opinion, one of the top 5 most interesting tech companies in the world. Truth be told, Efrat and I were friends for years before I even realized that another phenomenal person I know and respect tremendously, Moshik Raccah, is actually her brother. I can say so much about Moshik, but I will just say this. He is one of the most connected people I know and as connected as he is, he is equally generous with introductions to his vast network. I was shocked when I found out these two amazing people were siblings, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized I should not have been so surprised.
Gil Schoenberg and Michal Tamir (Co-Founders, Superfy)
I had the privilege of meeting this power couple several times over the past few months after Avishai Abrahami, CEO of Wix and a member of their advisory board introduced us. They met at their previous startup and have since co-founded Superfy, an early stage startup using AI to find you answers to any question you might have in real time chat-like experience.
Liat Mordechay Hertanu and Gilad Hertanu (Co-Founders, 24me)
If there was ever a power couple, Liat and Gilad is it. They co-founded 24me, a mobile platform taking on the whole calendar/productivity world. They have been at it for several years and have been recognized for excellence by Apple and others pretty consistently. If anyone says mixing family and business is not a good idea, take a look at this couple who totally disproves that theory.
Lihi Pinto Fryman and Ofer Fryman (Co-Founders, Syte)
I had the chance to get to know Lihi, Ofer, and the rest of the Syte team over the past few years, and I am pretty sure I admired the dynamic between this couple, well before I even know they were a couple. Syte developed some seriously cool tech to offer consumers and businesses visual search focusing on fashion but expanding to other verticals as well. By the way, Idan who is also a Co-Founder, is Lihi’s brother so yea, there’s that!
Kira Radinsky (Chief Scientist, eBay) and Sagie Davidovich (CEO, SparkBeyond)
Well, these two have a combined IQ that I don’t even want to think about, because I probably can’t count that high. Kira is kind of the modern take on a mad scientist, minus the mad part. She is simply brilliant. Her husband founded SparkBeyond, which is in my opinion, one of the most fascinating companies I have met in years. Both Kira and Sagie are incredibly talented and I am pretty sure, whatever the official definition of a genius is, they meet the criteria.
Galia Beer Gabel (Head of Sales, PayPal Eastern Europe) and Daphna Beer-Gabel (Sr. Director of CRM, Payoneer)
Two sisters, two execs in massive companies that operate in the payments space. I had the chance to meet Daphna several months ago and was floored by her vast knowledge and expertise surrounding all things CRM, business, marketing, sales, and more. Her sister Galia, who I am yet to meet face to face leads Paypal’s market development in Eastern Europe. So yea, I am sure their parents are proud.
Omri Shor and Rotem Shor (Co-Founders, Medisafe)
These two brothers experienced a near tragedy in their family when their dad almost overdosed on his meds by accident. They realized that most people don’t manage their medication consumption properly so they built an app, Medisafe, to fix that problem. Millions of users later, countless lives saved, and Medisafe is growing fast, raising boat loads of capital, and signing deals with the likes of Apple Inc, and many others.
Benjy Singer (General Manager, WeWork) and Saul Singer (Co-Author, Startup Nation)
The Singer brothers are two major players in the Israeli ecosystem. Saul who co-authored the famous book that coined the now famous term, Startup Nation, is a household name both because of the book, but also because of his ongoing activity with Startup Nation Central, and so much more. His brother, Benjy started WeWork in Israel, along with countless other businesses. Both remarkable entrepreneurs, both leaving a huge impact on the local scene.
Adi Tatarko and Alon Cohen (Co-Founders, Houzz)
Well, as they say, “Last, but not least”. Adi and Alon have already been named a power couple in tech by Forbes, and truth be told, I never met either one of them, but watching the Houzz journey has been pretty incredible. To think it all started at their kitchen table! To say that Houzz is scaling fast is a huge understatement and from what I have heard, they are just getting started. Some of the early investors in Houzz are good friends so I have heard about this fascinating company from their perspective, as well. Truly a cinderella story!
Well, there you have it, 12 amazing entrepreneur duos who also happen to be married or siblings.