Blackstone Hires Israeli Tech Executive Yifat Oron; Announces Opening of New Office in Tel Aviv
NEW YORK & Tel Aviv, Israel – April 25, 2021 – Blackstone (NYSE: BX) announced today that it has hired Yifat Oron, who previously served as CEO of LeumiTech, as a Senior Managing Director and head of the firm’s new office in Tel Aviv, Israel. She will lead Blackstone’s growth and tech investments in Israel for Blackstone Growth (BXG), the firm’s growth equity business, and assist with other investing efforts across the firm. Ms. Oron brings more than twenty years of experience as a tech investor and executive in Israel, with leadership roles in venture capital, banking and consulting.
BXG recently completed the final close of its oversubscribed, inaugural $4.5 billion growth equity fund – the largest first-time growth equity private vehicle ever raised. BXG began deploying capital in 2020 and has already made a number of significant investments, including in Bumble (which recently completed a successful initial public offering); Oatly; ISN; GeoComply; Ginger; Hydrogen Health and Epidemic Sound.
Ambassador Dan Gillerman, former Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations, has served as Blackstone’s Senior Advisor in Israel since 2013. With the establishment of Blackstone’s new office in Tel Aviv, Ambassador Gillerman will become Chairman of Blackstone Israel, continuing to serve as an advisor to the firm and the Israel-based team.
Stephen A. Schwarzman, Blackstone Chairman, CEO and Co-Founder, said: “We are increasingly focused on investing in fast-growing sectors, such as technology, life sciences and the digital economy. Israel is one of the most promising markets in the world in these areas and Yifat is the perfect choice to scale our firm’s presence and investments there.”
Jon Korngold, Global Head of Blackstone Growth, said: “We are big believers in Israel, which is one of the most dynamic and innovative markets in the world. I’m delighted to welcome Yifat, an outstanding technology executive and leader, to help us bring the full power of the Blackstone platform and our resources to the country’s entrepreneurs.”
Yifat Oron added: “I’m thrilled to join Blackstone and lead the firm’s growth investments in Israel. The breadth of what Blackstone can deliver to entrepreneurs in terms of capital and operating expertise is truly world-class. I’m excited to help fast-growing companies in Israel become global leaders through Blackstone’s resources and global network.”
Ambassador Dan Gillerman added: “I look forward to working with Yifat, a deeply respected tech and finance leader, to scale our efforts and support the most promising companies, entrepreneurs and technological innovation in Israel.
Prior to joining Blackstone, Yifat Oron was the CEO of LeumiTech, a leading Israeli technology banking platform, servicing and financing several thousand technology companies and supporting their global expansion via LeumiTech’s global footprint. She spent most of her career as a Partner at Vertex Venture Capital (an Israel-based venture fund), where she invested in and served as a board member of companies across the tech ecosystem.
Before joining Vertex, Ms. Oron was a technology investment banking associate at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in New York. Previously, she spent three years at the Directorate of R&D of the Israeli Ministry of Defense where she achieved the rank of Lieutenant in the Economics, Budget & Control Department.
Ms. Oron holds an M.B.A. from Tel-Aviv University and a B.Sc. in Economics and Management from the Technion, also known as the Israel Institute of Technology.
BXG seeks to invest in fast-growing companies with proven business models and with the potential to become global market leaders in partnership with Blackstone. Through BXG, Blackstone can offer growth-stage entrepreneurs potential access to its more than 100 operating professionals and advisors, a group procurement program that purchases on behalf of portfolio companies with more than 450,000 employees, a dedicated team responsible for identifying opportunities for its businesses to sell to its global portfolio companies with more than $160 billion of combined revenue, more than 880 million square feet of eCommerce logistics assets, its team of dozens of data scientists, and insights gleaned from more than two dozen offices throughout the world.
About Blackstone
Blackstone is one of the world’s leading investment firms. We seek to create positive economic impact and long-term value for our investors, the companies we invest in, and the communities in which we work. We do this by using extraordinary people and flexible capital to help companies solve problems. Our $649 billion in assets under management include investment vehicles focused on private equity, real estate, public debt and equity, life sciences, growth equity, opportunistic, non-investment grade credit, real assets and secondary funds, all on a global basis. Further information is available at www.blackstone.com. Follow Blackstone on Twitter @Blackstone.
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