Joshua Levinberg - Tel-Aviv, Israel
Joshua Levinberg was born in Tel-Aviv, Israel in 1953. His ocean-side city ties fated him to two destinies: that of a successful business investor and that of an avid wind surfer.
Joshua went to “Ohel Shem” High School in Ramat Gan; a high school notorious for educating many of the nation's most respected and sought after entrepreneurs. He found himself in step with the school's history and is now a leader in the international high-tech community – even though he still allows himself time to indulge in his passion for wind surfing.
After high school, Joshua received his B.SC from Tel-Aviv University in electrical engineering and electronics.
Levinberg's work spans realms from satellite networks to digital printers to online advice sites. His mark can be found on a plethora of high-tech markets. In 1987, he helped co-found Gilat Inc., which designed “very small aperture terminals,” or VSATs, to disperse Internet, voice, video, data, and broadband by satellite. Gilat went public in 1993.
Levinberg is currently a senior advisor for business development and corporate strategy at Gilat, but also moved on to create JAL Ventures thorough which he invests in a variety of companies in the Israeli market. He co-founded JAL Ventures with his partner and brother Amiram Levinberg in 2003. JAL Ventures is an innovative investment company that capitalizes on the newest markets well before other investors realize how successful the market will be.
A primary investor in Kasamba, an online advice platform in a virtual marketplace, Joshua predicted the future of social media before it was embraced by the investment world. LivePerson (NASDQ – LPSN) acquired Kasamba in 2007 for approximately $40M. He then went on to co-found Agropeace Bio LTD, an Israeli firm that develops large-scale bio-diesel projects in Africa.
Joshua Levinberg’s drive to succeed is partly due to his father, the head of Israel’s leading daily newspaper “Maariv” for many years, and indeed a great encouragement in Levinberg’s life.
After so many years, he admits that he has a love hate relationship for the crazy pace of the hi-tech industry, but taking the credit for his pioneering ideas is much more important to him in life, than the riches themselves.
His surfing abilities are not restricted to the office either – in his leisure time Levinberg is a renowned wind surfer.
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