Axana

Eli Efrat, Chief Executive Officer

Eli Efrat brings to Axxana almost two decades of experience in building and managing high-tech companies. Prior to co-founding Axxana, Mr. Efrat was the CEO of MessageVine, the global leader in providing presence and Instant Messaging solutions to wireless carriers and ISPs. Before this, Mr. Efrat co-founded Veon, an innovator in the area of Digital Video and Broadband Internet and lead the company to a successful acquisition by Philips, to become that company’s MP4Net Group. Before Veon, Mr. Efrat was a co-founder of Algotec Systems, a leader in the Picture Archiving and Communication Systems (PACS) space and a Kodak company today. Mr. Efrat was hand-picked to be a member of the prestigious Israeli Defense Forces Haman Talpiot project, an elite military R&D unit where he was awarded the esteemed IDF Intelligence Creative Thinking Award. Mr. Efrat holds a B.Sc. in Industrial Engineering from Tel Aviv University.

Alex Winokur, Chief Technology Officer

Dr. Alex Winokur is a prime innovator in the area of data management, data protection and the storage industry. Dr. Winokur spent eleven years in the IBM Research Division, achieving the prestigious IBM Master Inventor title, and authoring and co-authoring over 15 patents in storage, network management, and telecommunication areas. Dr. Winokur has a rich systems engineering background and a proven record of developing high-performance, high-availability storage subsystems. He is a strong leader with an established record of building R&D organizations. Prior to co-founding Axxana, Dr. Winokur was the CTO of XIV Information Systems (acquired by IBM) and the founder of Sepaton (Formerly SANgate), a successful start up company in the area of Storage Area Networks (SAN). Dr. Winokur was named to CRN’s 2010 list of “Storage Superstars.” He holds a B.Sc. and M.Sc from the Technion, Israel’s Institute of Technology and a Ph.D. from Penn State University.

Moshe Yanai

Moshe Yanai has been instrumental in the development of some of the most advanced and successful storage technologies in the history of the industry. Mr. Yanai began his career in the 1970s, building IBM-compatible mainframe storage based on minicomputer disks. He went on to develop high-end storage systems for Nixdorf, and in the late 1980s, joined EMC, leading the team that developed Symmetrix (today’s “DMX series”). As Vice President of EMC’s Symmetrix group, Mr. Yanai was responsible for design and development of all hardware and software products for EMC’s industry-leading enterprise storage systems. Based in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, EMC’s Symmetrix group grew from only one employee in 1987 to more than 3500 under his leadership. Mr. Yanai graduated in 1975 from the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology with a Bsc in Electrical Engineering. He holds over 40 patents for various innovative storage hardware and software-related technologies.

Ronen Nir

Ronen Nir Joined Carmel Ventures in February 2008 as Principal and was promoted to Partner a short time afterwards. Mr. Nir focuses on Software, Cloud and Internet investments and works closely with Carmel’s portfolio companies: Axxana, Amadesa, Clarizen, Kampyle, and cVidya. Before joining Carmel, Mr. Nir held senior executive positions in several leading Hi-Tech companies, including a Director and VP Product in Verint Systems’ ACS division; and a Project Team Manager in ECtel Ltd (NASDAQ:ECTX), in charge of delivering large scale, multi million dollar projects to North and Latin America regions. Mr. Nir served 13 years in an elite Israeli Defense Force’s Intelligence Unit where he holds a rank of Lieutenant Colonel (Res.). He holds a B.A. (Cum Laude) in Economics and Middle-East history from Tel Aviv University, Israel, and an M.Sc in Technology Management from the University of Maryland University College (UMUC).

 

Menashe Ezra

Menashe Ezra joined Gemini in 2008 with a proven track record as an entrepreneur and investor, and with over 25 years of experience in information technology. He focuses on wireless communication, networking and semiconductors. Menashe came to Gemini from fellow Israeli venture capital firm BRM Capital, which he joined in 2001. He served as the company’s Managing Partner and led investments in several start-ups, including Passave, a provider of semiconductors sold to PMC Sierra for $300M in 2006, and Oplus, a developer of video processors sold to Intel for $100M in 2005. Menashe was Chairman of both companies and played a crucial role in their success. Prior to BRM, he was CEO of WaveAccess, a wireless networks start-up he founded in 1993 and which was sold to Lucent in 1998 in a deal that generated an almost ten-fold return for investors. Following the transaction, Menashe served as VP of Fixed Wireless Network Systems at the US giant for three years. Before establishing WaveAccess, Menashe headed an elite department for electronic research at Israel’s Ministry of Defense, and twice received the prestigious Israel National Security Award. He holds a BSc in Electrical Engineering from Tel Aviv University.

Jacob Zankel

Jacob Zankel has served as Vice President and General Manager of Radlan Computer Communications Ltd., a Marvell company, since March 2003, where he is responsible for the development of software products and solutions for the Communications Business Group. Prior to Marvell, Mr. Zankel held the position of President and CEO for Radlan. He brings over 25 years of high tech software, hardware and systems experience to Marvell. Before Radlan, he was the President and chairman of Bynet Data Communications in Israel. Mr. Zankel also held several leadership roles at Bynet over his 13-year tenure including vice president of sales and sales manager for the military sector. Prior to Bynet, he was a software team manager with Kidron Ltd. He also managed R&D Teams and Information Systems at Maof Company. Mr. Zankel holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from the Israel Technology Institute (Technion).