Gigi Levy-Weiss
{{Short description|Israeli businessman and investor}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Gigi Levy-Weiss
| image = Gigi Levy-Weiss.jpg
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption =
| native_name = גיגי לוי-וייס
| native_name_lang = he
| birth_name = Gigi Levy
| birth_date =
| birth_place = Israel
| nationality =
| citizenship =
| education = Kellogg School of Management
Tel Aviv University
| alma_mater =
| occupation = Businessman, investor
| years_active =
| employer =
| organization =
| known_for = Former CEO of 888 Holdings
Founding partner at NFX Guild
| boards =
| spouse = Daphi Levy-Weiss
| partner =
| children = 3
| awards =
| website =
}}
Gigi Levy-Weiss (born Gigi Levy, Israel, Hebrew: גיגי לוי-וייס) is an Israeli businessman and investor. He is a co-founder and partner of the investment firm and business accelerator NFX. He works primarily with internet, software and gaming companies.
He is the former CEO for online gambling company 888 Holdings, and is on the board of the Israeli-Palestinian nonprofit organization MEET.
Early life and education
Levy (later Levy-Weiss) was born and raised in Israel. Before attending college Levy-Weiss was a pilot in the Israeli Air Force. In October 2002 he started attending the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL, where he earned his MBA in May 2004.
Career
Early in his career Levy-Weiss worked with his own startup company, also holding a number of management and consulting positions with technology companies in Israel and the UK. Among those roles he was CEO of Giltek Telecommunication, a publicly traded telecom systems integrator.
From 2003 to 2005 he was Vice President of Western Europe for Amdocs Limited, an international telecommunications software company. The following year he became Division President for the company for Western Europe, and Central and Latin America.
On June 18, 2006, Levy-Weiss joined the international sports betting company and gambling website operator 888 Holdings as their Chief Operating Officer (COO). He was COO until January 2007, when he became the company's CEO. His tenure coincided with the 2006 enactment of US online gambling legislation UIGEA and the 2008 financial crisis. His position as a CEO officially ended on May 31, 2011, though he remained on the board for an additional twelve months, assisting in the transition to a new CEO.
After leaving 888 Holdings, Levy-Weiss has been an investor, board member, and in some cases a co-founder for a number of technology companies in Israel, San Francisco and London. Many of the startups he invests in have involved online commerce, advertising technologies, mobile applications, gaming, and SaaS spaces.
From 2007 until its acquisition in 2016 by Taiwan's GMobi, he was a board member at Massive Impact.{{Cite web |last=אביטל |first=יניב |date=2016-08-24 |title=אקזיט: מאסיב אימפקט הישראלית נרכשה על ידי GMobi הטיוואנית |url=https://www.geektime.co.il/massive-impact-acquired-by-gmobi/ |access-date=2024-12-10 |website=גיקטיים |language=he-IL}} He was an investor and board member for SweetIM from 2009 to 2013, which was acquired by Perion. Perion purchased SweetPacks, maker of SweetIM, in November 2012 for approximately $41 million.{{cite web|url=http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20121107006926/en/Perion-Announces-Accretive-Acquisition-SweetPacks |title=Perion Announces Accretive Acquisition of SweetPacks |publisher=businesswire.com |date= |accessdate=2013-09-23}}
Levy-Weiss was one of the founders of digital entertainment company Playtika in 2010.{{Cite news |date=2021-01-10 |title=Beach Bum's backgammon hits the jackpot |url=https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-beach-bums-backgammon-hits-the-jackpot-1001385851 |access-date=2024-12-10 |work=Globes |language=en}} In 2011, over half of Playtika's shares were acquired by casino operator Harrah's Entertainment's at a company value of $80–90 million, in what was the largest acquisition on record of an Israeli online gaming company. The total sum of the two stages of the buyout for Playtika was rumored to be around US$140 million.
Israeli company Promodity, an advertising platform, announced in August 2012 that Levy-Weiss had invested in the company. In 2014, he sold his assets in the company.{{Cite web |last=גלעד |first=אסף |date=2014-01-16 |title=נכסי חברת הסטארט־אפ הישראלי פרומודיטי נמכרו לאלגומייזר |url=https://www.calcalist.co.il/marketing/articles/0,7340,L-3621939,00.html |access-date=2024-12-10 |website=כלכליסט - www.calcalist.co.il}} He has been a board member at Global-e since 2013, and late that year he invested in Space Ape Games, an English social games company.
He also has invested in startups such as the technology company Kenshoo. Other investments include companies Crossrider (later acquired for $37million), Plarium, R2Net, Eyeview, RealMatch, Lovelive.tv, NonoRep, Gooodjob, Selina,{{Cite web|url=https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3755634,00.html|title=Hospitality Company Selina to Open Multiple Israeli Locations|last=Levy|first=Dotan|date=2019-02-04|website=CTECH - www.calcalistech.com|access-date=2020-04-16}} Superfly, SpeakingPal, Ekoloko, TradeO, Zoomd, Moovu, and Moolta, (which was acquired by SimilarWeb) and Clawee.Orbach, Meir (December 7, 2020). [https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3879832,00.html Gigantic raises $7 million to expand online transformation of real-world arcade games]. Calcalist.
In 2014, Levy-Weiss was appointed to Facebook's EMEA Client Council, a marketing forum including representatives from brands and agencies of Europe, Africa and the Middle East, together with Facebook leaders.{{cite web|last1=McLeod|first1=Ishbel|title=Facebook introduces EMEA client council with Nestlé, Unilever, Red Bull, BMW and Mondelez on board|url=http://www.thedrum.com/news/2014/09/10/facebook-introduces-emea-client-council-nestl-unilever-red-bull-bmw-and-mondelez|website=The Drum|publisher=The DrumThe Drum|accessdate=29 February 2016}}
In 2015, Levy-Weiss cofounded the accelerator and funding firm NFX Guild in the San Francisco Bay Area with James Currier and Stan Chudnovsky.https://techcrunch.com/2015/09/18/james-currier-and-stad-chudnovsky-takes-the-wraps-off-their-new-incubator-nfx-guild/#.3lbznz:LXLd NFX is named for "Network Effects."{{cite web |url=http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-nfx-guild-accelerator-unveils-class-of-summer-2015-1001069216 |title=NFX Guild accelerator unveils summer 2015 class |last1=Goldenberg |first1=Roy |date=August 18, 2015 |website= |publisher=Globes |access-date=December 4, 2015 |quote=}}
In 2015 Levy-Weiss co-founded Beach Bum, a gaming company focused on classic hit card and board games. Beach Bum was acquired by the French hyper-casual gaming company Voodoo in 2021.{{Cite web |title=French mobile gaming unicorn Voodoo buys Israeli studio Beach Bum |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/french-mobile-gaming-unicorn-voodoo-buys-israeli-studio-beach-bum-2021-09-30/ |website=Reuters}}
In 2016, Levy-Weiss was part of a group of investors that led a Series A funding round for Inception, an Israeli startup specializing in virtual reality entertainment content.{{Cite web |last=Blum |first=Brian |date=2018-02-08 |title='Netflix for virtual reality' targets your living room |url=https://www.israel21c.org/netflix-for-virtual-reality-targets-your-living-room |access-date=2024-12-10 |website=ISRAEL21c |language=en-US}}
Public service
Levy-Weiss has been involved with a number of non-profit organizations in Israel, notably on the management board for Israeli humanitarian fund Latet from 2008 to 2013. He became a board member at the non-profit MEET - Middle East Entrepreneurs of Tomorrow in November 2013.
He also sits on the advisory boards of non-profit tech initiatives Place-il{{Cite web |date=2022-09-18 |title=About - Place il |url=https://place-il.org/about/ |access-date=2024-12-10 |language=en-US}} and KamaTech.{{Cite web |title=The Team (In Hebrew) |url=https://www.kamatech.org.il/%D7%90%D7%95%D7%93%D7%95%D7%AA-%D7%A7%D7%9E%D7%90-%D7%98%D7%A7/#Team |website=KamaTech}}
In 2023 Levy-Weiss was active in creating the Israeli High-Tech protest, Tech for Democracy, which opposes the legal reform of the Israeli government.{{Cite web |title=In stunning response, 15,000 volunteers fill leadership vacuum to help victims of Hamas |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-stunning-response-15000-volunteers-fill-leadership-vacuum-to-help-victims-of-hamas/ |access-date=2024-12-11 |website=www.timesofisrael.com |language=en-US}}
After the 7 October Hamas-led attack on Israel, Levy-Weiss co-founded Brothers and Sisters for Israel, an organization of IDF reservists devoted to relief and aid for civilians and soldiers. The organization received the Presidential Award for Volunteerism from the President of the State of Israel.{{Cite web |date=2024-05-02 |title=Gigi Levy-Weiss: "Creating jobs is no longer enough to fulfill one’s Zionist duty; we must change the country" |url=https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/rjioyo1za |access-date=2024-12-12 |website=ctech |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=אלו מקבלי ׳אות הנשיא להתנדבות' לשנת תשפ״ד |url=https://www.president.gov.il/%D7%90%D7%9C%D7%95-%D7%9E%D7%A7%D7%91%D7%9C%D7%99-%D7%B3%D7%90%D7%95%D7%AA-%D7%94%D7%A0%D7%A9%D7%99%D7%90-%D7%9C%D7%94%D7%AA%D7%A0%D7%93%D7%91%D7%95%D7%AA-%D7%9C%D7%A9%D7%A0%D7%AA-%D7%AA%D7%A9%D7%A4/ |access-date=2024-12-11 |website=www.president.gov.il (in Hebrew)}}
At Tel Aviv University, his alma mater, Levy-Weiss is on the advisory board of the Technology Management, Innovation and Entrepreneurship MBA program. He joined the supervisory board at Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA in Germany in May 2015.
He has been a speaker at conferences such as Com.vention, Casual Connect, and others.{{cite web |url=http://telaviv.casualconnect.org/content.html |title=CASUAL CONNECT TEL AVIV 2015 Speakers |last1= |first1= |last2= |first2= |date= |website=CasualConnect |publisher= |access-date=December 4, 2015 |quote=}}
Personal life
Levy-Weiss and his wife, Daphi Levy-Weiss, live in the Israel coastal city of Ramat HaSharon with their three children.
References
{{reflist| refs =
{{cite news
| title = Entrepreneurs Fliitika two years after Israel's fastest exit "hiring"
| url = http://www.themarker.com/technation/1.2163321
| publisher = The Marker
| date = December 11, 2013
| accessdate = 2014-03-12
}} (Hebrew)
{{cite news
| title = Exit Blue - white two week: SimilarWeb Acquires Israeli Tapdog
| url = https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=iw&u=http://www.geektime.co.il/similarweb-acquires-israeli-tapdog/&prev=/search%3Fq%3D%2522similarweb%2522%2Bmoolta%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26hs%3D6mW%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26biw%3D1244%26bih%3D659
| publisher = Geektime
| date =
| accessdate = 2014-03-12
}}
{{cite news
| title = Start-up CrossRider is sold for $37m
| url = http://www.haaretz.com/business/start-up-crossrider-is-sold-for-37m.premium-1.485270
| publisher = Haaretz
| date = December 17, 2012
| accessdate = 2014-03-12
}}
| title = Gigi Levy
| url = http://il.linkedin.com/in/gigilevy
| publisher = LinkedIn
| accessdate = 2014-03-12
| archive-url = https://archive.today/20140331213323/http://il.linkedin.com/in/gigilevy
| archive-date = 2014-03-31
| url-status = dead
}}
{{cite news
| title = Profile
| url = http://about.me/gigilevy
| publisher = Gigi Levy at About.me
| date =
| accessdate = 2014-03-12
}}
| title = I am Gigi and IMA Ventures is my investment vehicle
| first = Gigi
| last = Levy
| url = http://www.iapple.com/#!the-story/c1x20
| newspaper =
| publisher = IMA Ventures (IApple)
| date =
| accessdate = 2014-03-12
}}
| title = 888 holdings plc (888:London): Executive Profile Gigi Levy
| url = http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/people/person.asp?personId=27715175&ticker=888:LN
| archive-url = https://archive.today/20140331213355/http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/people/person.asp?personId=27715175&ticker=888:LN
| url-status = dead
| archive-date = March 31, 2014
| newspaper = BusinessWeek
| date =
| accessdate = 2014-03-12
}}
{{cite web |url=https://techcrunch.com/2015/10/25/israel-vs-silicon-valley-a-conversation-with-gigi-levy-weiss/ |title=Israel Vs. Silicon Valley: A Conversation with Gigi Levy Weiss |last1=Abramowitz |first1=Zach |date=October 25, 2015 |website= |publisher=TechCrunch |access-date=December 4, 2015 |quote=}}
| title = 10 rounds with the CEO - Interview: Q&A session with 888 Holding's Gigi Levy
| first = Holly
| last = Cook
| url = http://www.morningstar.co.uk/uk/news/64435/10-rounds-with-the-CEO.aspx
| newspaper = MorningStar
| publisher =
| date = July 15, 2009
| accessdate = 2014-03-12
}}
| title = Gigi Levy stays at 888 to avoid Wink Bingo charge
| first = Alistair
| last = Osbourne
| url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/leisure/8444230/Gigi-Levy-stays-at-888-to-avoid-Wink-Bingo-charge.html
| newspaper = The Daily Telegraph
| date = April 11, 2011
| accessdate = 2014-03-12
}}
| title = 888 denies link to Ladbrokes talks as chief executive Gigi Levy steps down
| first = Sarah
| last = Arnott
| url = https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/888-denies-link-to-ladbrokes-talks-as-chief-executive-gigi-levy-steps-down-2266201.html
| newspaper = The Independent
| publisher =
| date = April 11, 2011
| accessdate = 2014-03-12
}}
|title=Speakers - Gigi Levy Weiss: About Me
|url=http://comvention.themarker.com/speaker/gigi
|publisher=Com.vention
|year=2012
|accessdate=2014-03-12
|url-status=dead
|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140331010431/http://comvention.themarker.com/speaker/gigi
|archivedate=2014-03-31
}}
{{cite web |title=Gigi Levy: Executive Profile & Biography |url=http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/people/person.asp?personId=27715175&ric=888.L |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091016163232/http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/people/person.asp?personId=27715175&ric=888.L |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 16, 2009 |work=BusinessWeek |publisher=McGraw-Hill |accessdate=23 August 2009}}
{{cite news
| title = Gigi Levy Out as 888 CEO
| first = Earl
| last = Burton
| url = http://www.pokernewsdaily.com/gigi-levy-out-as-888-ceo-18748/
| newspaper = Poker News Daily
| date = April 12, 2011
| accessdate = 2014-03-12
}}
|title = Playtika's young founders win big on casino acquisition
|first = Tali
|last = Tsipori
|url = http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-1000646702
|newspaper = Globes
|date = May 18, 2011
|accessdate = 2014-03-12
|url-status = dead
|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20140312033913/http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-1000646702
|archivedate = 2014-03-12
}}
{{cite news
| title = Gigi Levy-Weiss and Israeli Angels Back Ad Platform Promodity
| first = Nitasha
| last = Tiku
| url = http://betabeat.com/2012/08/gigi-levi-weiss-promodity-1-5-million-angel-funding/
| newspaper = BetaBeat
| publisher =
| date = August 3, 2012
| accessdate = 2014-03-12
}}
| title = After Playfish, social-game veterans return with Samurai Siege, earning $50K a day
| first = Dean
| last = Takahashi
| url = https://venturebeat.com/2013/10/13/after-playfish-social-game-veterans-return-with-samurai-siege-earning-50k-a-day/
| newspaper = VentureBeat
| publisher =
| date = October 13, 2013
| accessdate = 2014-03-12
}}
}}
External links
- [http://www.nfx.com/ nfx.com/]
- {{LinkedIn URL|https://www.linkedin.com/in/gigilevy}}
- [http://about.me/gigilevy Gigi Levy] at About.me
- [http://www.iapple.com/#!the-story/c1x20 Gigi Levy at IMA Ventures]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Levy-Weiss, Gigi}}
Category:Israeli venture capitalists
Category:Israeli business executives
Category:Kellogg School of Management alumni