Elie Wurtman

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Elie Wurtman
אלי וורטמן‎
Born (1969-08-30) August 30, 1969 (age 54)
Education
OccupationBusiness executive
TitleManaging Partner, PICO Venture Partners

Elie Wurtman (Hebrew: אלי וורטמן, born August 30, 1969) is an Israeli venture capitalist, businessman, and high-tech and social entrepreneur.[1] He co-founded and served as the first Executive Chairman of the e-commerce company Vroom, which went public in June 2020.[2] He is the co-founder of PICO Venture Partners, a Jerusalem-based venture capital fund,[3] PICO Kids,[4] and Bat Shlomo Vineyards.[5]

Early life and education[edit]

Wurtman was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and immigrated to Jerusalem with his family when he was eight years old. In 1991, Wurtman graduated with a bachelor's degree in political science from Columbia University and a bachelor's degree in Talmud from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America.[6]

Career[edit]

In 1996, together with Jacob Ner-David, Wurtman co-founded and served as CEO of Deltathree, one of the first companies to offer telephony services over the Internet.[7] He took the firm public in November 1999.[8]

Wurtman began his venture capital career at Jerusalem Venture Partners, where he worked from 2003 to 2006 leading investments in early-stage media technology as well as enterprise software. From 2006 to 2012, he served as general partner at Benchmark Capital.

From 2011 to 2014, Wurtman was Executive Chairman of NJOY. In 2014, Wurtman co-founded Vroom with Allon Bloch, Marshall Chesrown, and Kevin Westfall.[2] From 2014 to 2016, he served as Vroom's first Executive Chairman and remained as a director until the company's IPO in June 2020.[9]

In 2015, Wurtman founded PICO Venture Partners, to invest in early-stage start-ups.[3] PICO Venture Partners was the first investor in companies including Vroom and Spot.io (which was sold to American NetApp for $450 million).[10] PICO has also invested in startups including K Health,[11] Ravin AI[12] and Gloat.[13]

Among other industries, PICO Venture Partners focuses on enterprise software, SaaS, automotive retail, fintech, e-commerce and cyber security.[14]

In 2020, Wurtman traveled to the United Arab Emirates, as part of the Abraham Accords Business Summit led by US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.[15][16]

Social entrepreneurship[edit]

Wurtman is a social entrepreneur, community advocate, and Middle East Leadership Initiative Fellow at the Aspen Institute.[17] His work includes youth education and economic redevelopment of the Talpiot industrial area in Jerusalem. Beginning in 2012, Wurtman helped attract start-ups and leading ecosystem companies and organizations to the Talpiot industrial area, including AutoLeadStar, Modli and Start-Up Nation Central.[18] Wurtman sits on the board of the Tower of David Museum.[6]

In 2013, Wurtman founded PICO Kids, a non-profit organization in Jerusalem that educates youth across the city about STEEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Entrepreneurship, and Math) through project-based learning.[19] [20] The organization serves elementary and high school students from diverse economic, social, and religious groups.[21]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Gomes-hochberg, Cassandra (8 July 2020). "Elie Wurtman: The man with the golden touch". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  2. ^ a b Orbach, Meir (6 December 2019). "Online Used Car Retailer Vroom Raises $254 Million". Calcalist. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
    Orbach, Meir (3 June 2020). "Online Used Car Marketplace Vroom Triples its Aim for Nasdaq IPO to $318 Million". Calcalist. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  3. ^ a b Clark, Kate (26 September 2019). "Israeli VC PICO Venture Partners closes on $80M". TechCrunch. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
    Yablonko, Yasmin (25 September 2019). "PICO Partners raises $80m VC fund". Globes. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
    "PICO Venture Partners Closes $80M Second Fund". VentureBeat. 25 September 2019. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  4. ^ Belenky, Sasha (12 June 2019). "Redefining Social Impact the PICO Way". Times of Israel. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  5. ^ Solomon, Shoshanna. "To mark Jerusalem Day, ancient city's 'unique' tech scene is celebrated in video". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  6. ^ a b "Elie Wurtman - Co-founder & Partner". PICO. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  7. ^ Founders of Internet Telecom and Delta Three Launch a New Optical Communications Start-Up
  8. ^ Bahur-Nir, Diana; Orbach, Meir (20 June 2020). "Wurtman's roller coaster: From fears of bankruptcy in March to $6 billion exits in June". Calcalist. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  9. ^ Gomes-hochberg, Cassandra (8 July 2020). "Elie Wurtman: The man with the golden touch". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  10. ^ Klein Leichman, Abigail (3 February 2021). "The man who meets India's business needs with Israeli products". ISRAEL21c. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  11. ^ Orbach, Meir (18 November 2020). "K Health raises $42 million at a $700 million valuation". Calcalist. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  12. ^ "Israeli vehicle inspection AI co Ravin raises $15m". Globes. 16 March 2021. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
    Orbach, Meir (16 March 2021). "KAR Global leads $15 million series A funding in Ravin AI". Calcalist. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  13. ^ "Israeli AI HR tech co Gloat raises $25m". Globes. 17 December 2019. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  14. ^ Dor, Ofir (25 January 2021). "Shaking up the US car loan market". Globes. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  15. ^ Klein Leichman, Abigail (19 October 2020). "Why the UAE is looking to Israel to secure its food supplies". ISRAEL21c. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  16. ^ Hacohen, Hagay (22 October 2020). "PICO Ventures co-founder brings Jerusalem, and its youth, to UAE". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  17. ^ "Elie Wurtman". Aspen Institute. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  18. ^ Stub, Zev (9 May 2021). "Jerusalem Day: Israel's budding tech hub". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  19. ^ Belenky, Sasha (30 March 2020). "Learning from Gen Z in the Age of Corona". Times of Israel. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  20. ^ "Inspiring Jerusalem's Future Problem Solvers". Aspen Institute. 25 June 2020. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  21. ^ "PICO Kids Technology Camp". Fun in Jerusalem. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
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