Early Growth Stage Venture Capital (VC) Investment Team

Lisya Bahar Manoah

Chairperson of the Board

Lisya Bahar-Manoah is the Chairperson of the Board at Elron Ventures and a Managing Partner at Arieli Group, the controlling shareholder of Elron. She brings over 15 years of experience in investment and management within private equity and venture capital, specializing in fund management, M&A transactions, and post-merger integrations. Lisya also serves on the board of RDC – Rafael Development Corporation and lectures at the Sofaer Global MBA Program at Tel Aviv University.
Prior to joining Arieli, Lisya held executive roles at Catalyst Investments, Keter Group (BC Partners), ADAMA, and BMW/Magna Steyr. She holds an MBA from Tel Aviv University, an M.Sc in Mechanical-Industrial Engineering from Vienna University of Technology, and has completed Executive Education in Risk Management at Harvard Business School.

"I share Elron's vision of building transformative technologies and empowering companies to become market leaders. We aim to grow our portfolio while creating value through strategic investments and thoughtfully planned exit opportunities that drive long-term success."

Yaniv Shnieder

CEO

Yaniv Shneider is a Technology Innovation leader who has spearheaded significant organizational growth and transformation within Rafael. Yaniv has initiated, established, and managed Rafael’s new R&D Center in Tel Aviv, a startup multidisciplinary engineering group of 250 employs of the best technological talents in Israel.

Awarded the Rafael Prize for Outstanding Management for leading three geographically remote Computer Vision groups to exceptional achievement, dramatically increasing their talent count.

Yaniv broad systemic vision, deep technological understanding, and passion for cultivating innovation leads to a fruitful environment. Skilled at handling disruption within the workplace and committed to employee empowerment and human capital preservation.

Lauren Duke

VP Business Development

Lauren is responsible for strategy planning, new investment initiatives, value-added guidance to portfolio companies, investment due diligence and heading the analysis department. She brings a diverse background in investment management, research & analysis, and investor relations. Lauren holds an MA in the Cognitive Science of Language, summa cum laude, from Tel Aviv University.

"I have found that Elron Ventures is a place where my personal growth goes hand in hand with the growth of our ventures. In short, a place that believes in people."

Dr. Erez Berkovich

CTO of RDC and serves as Corporate Chief Scientist at Rafael Advanced Defense Systems.

Dr. Erez Berkovich is CTO of RDC and serves as Corporate Chief Scientist at Rafael Advanced Defense Systems.

He holds a Ph.D. and an M.Sc. in Biomedical Engineering, as well as a B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering, all from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. His primary areas of expertise include artificial intelligence, machine learning, and computer vision, in which he has submitted numerous patent applications.
With more than two decades of experience, Dr. Berkovich has held several senior engineering and R&D management positions and has collaborated extensively with both industrial and academic partners. Previously, he served as Head of Research and Development in Rafael’s Land and Naval Division and established and managed Rafael’s Combat AI & Cognitive Systems Group, a multidisciplinary center of excellence comprising

Yishay Perry

Senior Cyber Advisor and a leader of the Cyber Future.

Yishay Perry is Elron Ventures’ Senior Cyber Advisor and leads CyberFuture, Elron’s cyber microfund. He brings over 15 years of experience across global technology companies and startups, combining deep technical expertise with strategic business development and customer engagement.

Yishay has held senior roles at leading organizations including Microsoft and Palo Alto Networks, where he worked closely with enterprises and CISOs on next generation cybersecurity architectures. His experience spans building and scaling SecOps strategies, advising on cloud and network security, and leading complex customer engagements from technical design through execution.
Yishay combines technical depth with a strong ability to translate complex technologies into clear business value. His work focuses on identifying opportunities, supporting portfolio companies, and helping build market leading cyber solutions.

Yair Pecht

Entrepreneur-in-Residence

Yair serves as advisor to Elron Ventures and its portfolio companies. In addition, Yair is CEO at a stealth mode startup and the former CEO of NSO Group, a cybersecurity start-up sold for $130 million in early 2014. He also served as CEO of Alcatel-Lucent, Israel, as well as CEO of EDS Israel.

"The Elron Ventures-Rafael partnership keeps me continuously intrigued professionally. The personal and professional caliber of the team is what makes working at Elron Ventures such a pleasure and so interesting."

Lior Levinsky

CFO at RDC

Lior joined RDC (Elron and Rafael JV) in 2009 and has served as CFO since 2011. Lior is responsible for the corporate finance function and operational management, and serves as active CFO in several of Elron Ventures startups. Prior to joining Elron Ventures, Lior served as a Senior Associate at KPMG USA and as a Manager at KPMG Israel. Lior has a BA in Accounting and Economics, both from Tel Aviv University.

"When I joined RDC, I didn’t expect to be here a decade later. Having the opportunity to constantly lead and face new challenges keeps me evolving, and curious about what will come next. "

Israeli Venture Capital Team-Rony Sharon

Rony Gur Arie

CFO

Alongside her duties as Controller at Elron Ventures, Rony serves as active CFO at Coromaze, a portfolio company. Prior to joining Elron Ventures, Rony was a controller at Anyclip Media Group, where she was promoted to the position after less than a year. Rony has a BA in Accounting and Economics and an MBA, both from the Recanati Business School, Tel Aviv University.

"Working at Elron Ventures creates the perfect combination between the business and accounting worlds."

Maya Reitman

Head of Marketing

Maya is responsible for managing all aspects of Elron Ventures marketing strategy and portfolio companies marketing support, including social media, public relations, events, media and content creation. Before joining Elron Ventures, Maya was VP Marketing at Taldor, one of Israel's leading IT companies. She has an LLB from The College of Management Academic Studies and an LLM from Tel Aviv University.

"I love to market big dreams, be surrounded by inspiring and great people who dream big, and be where innovation takes place."

Benny Hagay

Assistant Controller

Benny joined Elron’s accounting team in 2025 as an Assistant Controller after working as a Senior at EY, where he completed his apprenticeship. Benny has a BA in economics and accounting from The Open University.

“For me, In the world of numbers and financial precision, your expertise as an accountant isn't just about balancing books - it's about building trust, enabling success and transform numbers into opportunities".

Nir Kahlon

Assistant controller

Nir joined Elron’s accounting team in 2023 as an Assistant Controller after working as a Senior at EY, where he completed his apprenticeship. Nir has a BA in economics and accounting from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a vast experience as a bookkeeper and legal assistant.

“For me, joining Elron is a journey. The best way to get things done is just to simply begin, And I begin here."

Ortal Shpigelshtein

Controller

Ortal is an Assistant Controller. She joined Elron Ventures in 2020 after working as a Senior Associate at PWC, where she completed her apprenticeship. Ortal has a BA in Accounting from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and an MBA from Tel Aviv University.

“I joined ElronVentures with the hope and expectation that the dynamic nature of Elron ventures' investments would be reflected in the accounting aspects as well, and provide me with the opportunity to delve into the business developments of Elron Ventures' portfolio companies. My expectations have been more than met.”

Chen (Lir) Hendelsman

Office Manager

Chen oversees the day-to-day administrative functions of Elron Ventures and Rafael partnership , managing office procedures as well as bookkeeping functions, and interacting with employees at every level within Elron Ventures companies in order to streamline complex activities. Before joining Elron Ventures, Chen was the Office Manager at Steakholder Food.

“Working at Elron Ventures has provided me the opportunity to step inside the venture capital world; working with its dedicated professional team is a rewarding experience.”

Team

Investment Team

Lisya Bahar Manoah

Yaniv Shnieder

Lauren Duke

Dr. Erez Berkovich

Yishay Perry

Yair Pecht

Finance & Operations

Lior Levinsky

Rony Gur Arie

Maya Reitman

Benny Hagay

Nir Kahlon

Ortal Shpigelshtein

Chen (Lir) Hendelsman

Lisya Bahar Manoah

Yaniv Shnieder

Lauren Duke

Dr. Erez Berkovich

Yishay Perry

Yair Pecht

Lior Levinsky

Rony Gur Arie

Maya Reitman

Benny Hagay

Nir Kahlon

Ortal Shpigelshtein

Chen (Lir) Hendelsman