Yossi Vardi is a prominent entrepreneur, software pioneer and co-founder of the first communication software of its kind, ICQ. He is also a highly invited international speaker and a passionate angel investor in Israel and around the world. Yossi stands as an icon and a visionary in the start-up industry, inspiring generations of young innovators.
Yossi Vardi’s Life and Professional Background
Yossi Vardi was born in Tel Aviv in 1942, three years before the establishment of the State of Israel. Even early on, Yossi caught a glimpse of the power of technology, working in the laboratories of an Israeli naval base and later the Israeli Ministry of Defense. He went on to become one of the most respected thought leaders and entrepreneurs in the technology world.
Originally trained as an engineer and chemist, Yossi Vardi has a long career in software programming and tools, most notably ICQ, the world’s first instant messaging software, created by his company Mirabilis.
In the mid-1990s, Yossi Vardi developed a platform to enable Internet users to communicate with each other, called ICQ. This laid the foundations for modern-day messaging applications, including Whatsapp and Facebook chat.
Today, Yossi Vardi is considered a “legend” amongst entrepreneurs and innovators of the technology world and a global thought-leader in the fields of big data, artificial intelligence, the internet of things and IoT.
Yossi Vardi Founding and Investing in Startups
Outside of being co-founder of Mirabilis (ICQ), Yossi Vardi is an active angel investor in a number of high-tech companies. To this day, Yossi Vardi has invested in nearly 100 startups across Israel, Europe and the United States.
In particular, Yossi Vardi has invested in Skype, Waze, WalkMe, EX-O, Monitise, Bit with Me, Lucidweb, and Crowdhand. These investments helped to shape the future of technology and innovate the ways in which people communicate.
In addition to investing in startups, Yossi Vardi also acts as an advisor and mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs and budding tech moguls. He is also committed to the development of new technologies, such as the fields of machine learning, artificial intelligence and the emerging field of “big data.”
Yossi Vardi’s Life Today
Today, Yossi Vardi still participates in various tech-related activities and events. One of the most well-known of these events is the annual DLD Tel Aviv Innovation Festival, which Yossi Vardi is a member of the founding committee.
Yossi Vardi also serves as chairman of the Tel Aviv Water Authority, a philanthropic organization in Israel. In his free time, Yossi Vardi enjoys swimming, reading and spending time with his four children, three of whom are involved in various tech-startups.
Yossi Vardi’s Involvement with the Humanitarian Causes
As an elder statesman of the technology community, Yossi Vardi is not only passionate about business, but also investing in social causes. A self-proclaimed “citizen of the world,” Yossi uses his influence and resources to aid the underprivileged.
In particular, Yossi Vardi has been deeply involved in developing projects and programs that improve the economic and educational conditions of young people in Israel and abroad.
Yossi Vardi is also a major donor of various philanthropic initiatives, having invested in the supporting underprivileged youth, providing quality education and helping with job creation. He also supports research and development in health sciences, specifically with respect to treating children with cancer.
Yossi Vardi is an impressive and inspiring figure, whose entrepreneurial and philanthropic work have had a deep and lasting effect on the technology industry, as well as on humanitarian causes. With a career that began in the early days of communication technology, Yossi Vardi has gone on to be an influential investor, mentor and roadmap to future entrepreneurs. He is an example of how a single person can have a large and lasting impact on business, technology, and social issues around the world.
