Yossi Vardi: Israel's 'Mr. Tech'

A champion of Israeli tech startups, Vardi has been asked by the government to strengthen Israel's business ties with Europe

by Jennifer L. Schenker

It's May 15, and Israeli technology guru Yossi Vardi is moderating a session on the future of the Internet at a conference in Jerusalem. On stage with the fatherly 65-year-old is a who's who of tech and media bigwigs, including Google (GOOG) co-founder Sergey Brin, Yahoo! (YHOO) President Susan Decker, and News Corp. (NWS) Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch.

Vardi (right in the above photo) isn't the least bit cowed by their eminence. In his irrepressible manner, he calls out to the crowd: "How many Israeli entrepreneurs in the audience want to do business with Yahoo?" He then tries to get Decker to give out her personal e-mail address. (She declines.) Vardi settles for announcing the e-mail of Yahoo's head of European operations to the scores of entrepreneurs who have raised their hands.

Undoubtedly the most prominent and connected tech entrepreneur in Israel, Vardi makes no bones about his objectives. The point of moderating the tech panel, he says later with a laugh, was to "shamelessly promote Israel's high-tech sector." The same evening, he tries to convince Brin to do more business in Israel by dragging the Google co-founder and his parents to a dilapidated warehouse in the suburbs of Tel Aviv to introduce them to 300 Israeli "garage geeks" who tinker there.

Now this goodwill ambassador—long known for his connections in Silicon Valley—has been tapped by the Israeli government to help deepen ties with Europe. Vardi was recently named co-chairman—alongside Mathias Döpfner, the chief executive of German media company Axel Springer (SPRGN)—of a group called the EU-Israel Business Dialogue. Its aim is to foster business relations between Israel and Europe through events such as the upcoming Israel Innovation Day in Germany on June 16.

Making Deals, Earning Respect

Although the panel's work is just getting under way, Europe's big tech companies have already been eyeing Israeli innovation for some time. In March, a France Telecom (FTE) subsidiary spent $21.4 million for a startup called Orca Interactive, based in Ra'anana, near Tel Aviv, that develops Internet TV software and applications. Germany's Deutsche Telekom (DT) has opened a research and development laboratory at Israel's Ben-Gurion University focused on network security. And Britain's BT Group (BT) is "actively scouting for Israeli technologies to use either ourselves or for our customers," says Gary Shainberg, BT's vice-president for technology and innovation support.

Such deals are welcome news to Vardi, who founded his first technology startup in 1969 and has gone on to be involved in more than 60 Israeli tech ventures. He has taken seven companies public and sold many others—the most famous of which was ICQ, the first Internet instant-messaging company, which was acquired by AOL (TWX) for more than $400 million.

But more than his financial success, what has turned the avuncular Vardi into Israel's Mr. Tech is relentless networking, his passionate belief in the cause, and generosity with his time and money.