MoreVC Names New Partners Rony Patishi-Chillim and Elliott (Avi) Sussman

Ra’anana, Israel / May 18, 2023

We are excited at MoreVC to announce two new partners today – Rony Patishi-Chillim and Elliott (Avi) Sussman.

Elliott has been working alongside us full-time since December 2021. He sourced and led our investments in hyve and Carbon Blue and has also taken an active role in our investments in Claroty, Sunday Security, Oxeye and C2A. Elliott spent his previous career (18 years) building and leading teams responsible for strategic cyber security and other technology projects for the Israeli government. Elliott worked under the conditions that have shaped so many of Israel’s leading startup success stories – building small teams, working against nearly impossible deadlines, leveraging initiative, leadership and relentless technological and operational creativity – to outsized success. He brings to MoreVC a steady flow of top-notch founders, technology leaders and operators from that network. Prior to his government career, Elliott was VP of Business Development at a digital-imaging startup called ImageID, with responsibility for strategic partnerships and fundraising, and he began his career as a corporate lawyer at Weil Gotshal & Manges in New York City. Elliott moved to Israel in 1999 together with his wife and two daughters (two sons, two sons-in-law and two grandsons(!) have since been added). Elliott holds a J.D. from Columbia Law School, an MA in Government (counter-terrorism and cyber security) from Reichman University (IDC Herzliya), and a B.A. in English Literature from Yeshiva University.

Rony brings 15 years of operating experience and deep knowledge of the Agtech and Foodtech industries to the MoreVC team. She is the former CEO of Lycored, a leading food supplement and ingredients company in Israel where she managed a team of over 300 employees, growing the core business to $90M annual revenues during her six-year tenure. Prior to Lycored, Rony held senior corporate leadership roles, including SVP of Global Corporate Communications and Business Development at ADAMA, one of the world’s largest crop protection companies (now a member of the Syngenta Group). Rony understands the complexities of global scale up and go-to-market first-hand and brings a keen corporate finance acumen to her work, having spent eight years as an investment banker at Lehman Brothers in their NY and Tel Aviv offices, and later as VP of Finance at ADAMA. In seeking out new investments for the fund, Rony looks for attainable financial models and attractive unit economics in companies that can scale both organically and through acquisitions to become market leaders. Rony is passionate about ESG at a practical and tangible level having seen how commitment to sustainability drives business change as a leader in Syngenta Group. She actively mentors women business leaders in Israel and is a member of a well-known women-led investment club (NeoMe). Rony is married with three children and grew up in the industrial business world from early age as a daughter and granddaughter of seasoned business owners. A member of YPO, Rony holds an MBA from Boston University and a BA in Business and Literature from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

Rony was initially introduced to us in Q4 2022 as a potential executive for one of our portfolio companies. We realized in the first meeting that she would fit a critical role for our team – bringing not only an investor’s perspective but that of a CEO. Once she told us that she actually had a preference for an investment role, we immediately began working together. During Q1, we saw first-hand the management experience and leadership perspective she brings as well as her extensive dealflow, particularly in the industry 4.0, food and ag realms where she has been sought out by many founders due to her experiences.

This is an exciting moment for our firm for other reasons as well. Since our founding in 2006, we have been active leaders in the climate tech venture community in Israel with over 40 investments. It is gratifying to see the recent significant growth in this ecosystem. Today more than ever before, Israel’s best “Startup Nation” founders are drawn to climate tech. Their creativity, experience and skill, combined with relentless passion, will propel Israeli climate tech startups into world-changing enterprises. And with a growing community of co-investors, and our addition of Elliott and Rony, we look forward to supporting them, and all our existing portfolio companies, in their scale-up.