The rest of the 100 (in alphabetical order): Ran Bar-Sella, Elbit Systems
Ran Bar-Sella is vice-president of corporate innovation at Israel-based and Nasdaq-listed defence technology provider Elbit Systems. Until October 2018, he was also chief executive of Elbit’s technology incubator Incubit Technology Ventures, which he founded in 2012.
In his current role, Bar-Sella leads Elbit’s open innovation activity, through both the incubator, which makes seed-stage deep-tech investments, and the corporate team, which makes later-stage investments as well as other types of deals with startups. He said: “Our open innovation team is responsible for the entire flow from initial public relations and sourcing dealflow through different mechanisms of scouting, through initial review and due diligence, connecting with the right teams in the various divisions of Elbit and up to structuring, negotiation and signing deal.”
He considers the unit’s greatest success has been signing the first spin-in deal for an Incubit graduate with one of Elbit’s divisions. Bar-Sella said: “This was a milestone for the startup, which gained a very strong strategic partner, and for the incubator, this being a first.”
Another portfolio company is denial-of-service attack mitigation system developer L7 Defense, which received $750,000 from Elbit in late 2015. Most recently, in November 2018, Elbit acquired state-owned Israel Military Industries through M&A for aboout $495m, with an additional $27m contingent on the company reaching agreed performance targets.
Before founding Incubit, Bar-Sella was chief technology officer of Elbit’s air vehicle division. Before that, he worked for startups in various positions.
