Yair Shamir

Founding & Managing Partner, Catalyst Fund

yairs@catalyst-fund.com

Yair Shamir is the Founding and Managing Partner of Catalyst. Mr. Shamir was elected Parliament Member and served as Minister of Agriculture of the State of Israel in the 19th Knesset from 2013 until 2015.

Mr. Shamir is now serving as the Chairman of Board of N.T.A – Metropolitan Mass Transit System. He also serves as the Chairman of Board of the Shalem College in Jerusalem and as the Chairman of the General  Meeting of Ohalo College. Mr. Shamir served as the Chairman of Israel’s National Roads Company from 2011 until 2012; As the Chairman of IAI (Israel Aerospace Industries) from 2005 until 2011; From 2003-2007, Mr. Shamir was the Chairman of Shamir Optical Industry Ltd (NASDAQ: SHMR). From 2004-2005, Mr. Shamir served as the Chairman of EL AL and lead the privatization process of the airline carrier. From 1997- 2006, Mr. Shamir served as the CEO and Chairman of VCON Telecommunications Ltd. Yair was a board member of DSP Group Corporation (NASDAQ: DSPG) from 2005 until 2013. Yair was the CEO of Elite Food Industries, Ltd between the years of 1994 and 1995. He was also the Executive VP of Scitex Corporation and General Manager of Scitex Israel from 1988 until 1993.

Mr. Shamir serves as a Chairman of the Board / Board Member of private hi-tech companies that are part of Catalyst’s investment portfolio such as XJet,  SatixFy, Mobileye (largest Israeli IPO in 2014) and more. From 1995 to 1997, Mr. Shamir served as Executive Vice President of the Challenge Fund L.P.

Mr. Shamir served in the Israeli Air Force as a pilot and commander from 1963-1988. During his term in the Air Force, Mr. Shamir attained the rank of colonel and served as head of the electronics department, the highest professional electronics position within the Israeli Air Force.

Mr. Shamir served as the Chairman of Gvahim (from 2006 to 2013), a non-profit organization which assists qualified new immigrants from around the world in realizing their professional aspirations in Israel. He was also the Board Member of Mikveh Israel from 2010 until 2013. Mr. Shamir was also a member of the Board of Governors of the Technion University and sat on the executive committee of the Beer Sheva University from 1990 until 2013.

Mr. Shamir holds a B.Sc. Electronics Engineering from the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology.