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Dr. Yael Benvenisti Print bio

Dr. Yael Benvenisti

Yael Benvenisti, Ph.D. is the CEO of Mediterranean Towers Ventures, a corporate venture capital program that invests in early-stage technology companies developing disruptive solutions for aging – the fastest growing population segment around the world. She is Chairperson of The SIG Technologies of Aging Well – Society of Electrical and Electronic Engineers in Israel, Aging 2.0 Israel, since 2011. She is the Founder of the Israeli entrepreneurial ecosystem of the Aging Tech space and represents the Aging2.0 organization.

Over the years, Yael has developed and built a network of contacts with international cooperation in order to export Israeli innovation and for international corporations and investors to notice Israeli activities.

Since 2015, she has been a Mentor at SocialTechLab, promoting technological step by step solutions to social problems from an idea to a viable product, and a Member of Social Welfare and Health Committee of the pensioners’ lobby at the Knesset in Israel.

Yael has been a Board Member at The Israeli Gerontology Society since 2010. The society aims to be a meeting point between various disciplines and between people working in different organizations dealing with old age and elderly caregivers.

They combine the various disciplines working with the elderly population. The Israel Gerontological Society is a member of the International Organization of Gerontology and operates as a part of the European branch.

Throughout the years, Yael has organized and served as the chairperson and lecturer in local and international conferences and was involved in writing a number of policy papers (local and international) and has worked to promote municipal, national, and international programs and implementation of technologies for the welfare of the elders.

She has served as a business and marketing consultant to companies on issues relating to the health, quality of life, and leisure pursuits of the elderly and as a mentor for startups and projects dealing with elderly population challenges in several accelerators programs in Israel.

Yael started her career as a Physical Therapist at Maccabi Healthcare Service, where she worked with children and in orthopedics. After an accident in a nursing home, when her grandmother died, Yael left the space and started working as self-employed in the rehabilitation of the elderly in nursing homes and as Product and Project Manager at The Association of Israelis of Central European Origin. She managed the professional health services in a chain of nursing and retirement homes and was also in charge of development and implementation of projects, between 2004 and 2012, as a Member of the Israeli Leadership forum.

Yael was always looking for innovations to implement into service and after she won some prizes (2007, Glickman Prize; 2010, Certificate of merit from Wingate Institute), she got an offer from the Israeli Gerontology Society in 2010, to become a Board Member. She was the only one at the time with a B.A.

Soon, in 2011, came the request from the Israeli Society of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, who were looking for someone to represent the gerontology world in their newly opened group for Ageing Well Technologies. She became Chairperson for their first international conference, which was a great success. After which, Yael became a chairperson of the group Ageing Well Technologies, and holds the position since. At the same time, Yael was elected to become Chairperson of the Society of Gerontology in Israel with one another doctor, who did not agree on appointing Yael, becaus she was not in academia and only had a B.A.

Despite being offended, Yael realized she needed to return to University, and applied for her MBA in Gerontology, but instead completed her Ph.D. thesis.

Yael earned her PhD in Gerontology in 2016 and her Master’s Degree of Arts in Gerontology in 2012 from the University of Haifa. She earned her Bachelor’s Degree of Arts in 1999 from Physical Therapy at Tel Aviv University.

Yael won the Glickman Prize in 2007 for excellence and quality in retirement, after she supervised a project. In 2010, she received the Certificate of Merit from the Wingate Institute for promoting elderly physical activity. In 2019, Yael was selected as one of the Israeli influencers in Longevity.

Yael is also a Member of the Povaddo Panel — a global opinion leader research panel and a Member of the advisory board of the Haifa municipality innovation and economic corporation.

One of Yael’s main goals is to connect organizations and startups in their common vision in the Aging segment. She organized and participated in many conferences, among others:

Read and listen to the interview Meet the Israeli Venture Capitalist Who’s Not Afraid of Aging by Keren Etkin with Yael, discussing Age Tech in Israel.

Watch the interview with Yael on YouTube’s HappySeniors Channel (in Hebrew).

Visit her LinkedIn profile, AgeingFit profile, and Healthy Masters profile. Follow her on Facebook and Aging2.0.

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