Co-Founder
Gilat Satellite NetworksBusiness Finance
Tel- Aviv, Israel
Joshua
Levinberg
Joshua Levinberg was born on October 18th 1953 in Tel Aviv, Israel. He went to school at the “Ohel Shem” high school in Ramat Gan which also produced many other successful Israeli entrepreneurs such as, Shabtai Adlersberg, Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO of AudioCodes; Amiram Levinberg, Co-Founder, CEO and Chairman of Gilat (NASDAQ: GILT); and Dov Moran, Founder and Chairman of Modu and M-Systems (sold to SanDisk for the amount of $1.6B). Joshua continued his studies at the Tel Aviv University where he completed his B.SC in electrical engineering and electronics. Along with his obvious interest in this field, Levinberg also finds time for his main hobby of wind surfing on a regular basis.
An Entrepreneurial Spirit
Joshua Levinberg, a well established entrepreneur, has experienced a varied and highly successful career. Joshua co-founded Gilat Satellite Networks back in 1987 and fulfilled many different roles within the company to this day, including Vice President of Marketing and Business Development and Senior Vice President of Business Development. He established Gilat in the US in 1989 and served as its Executive Vice President and General Manager until 1994. Until recently,, Joshua served as Executive Vice President of Corporate Business Development and Strategy and has just taken on the role of Senior Advisor for Business Development and Corporate Strategy. Recently, in a move to position Gilat as a major player in the international governmental and military markets, Joshua Levinberg put together a well-planned acquisition of a company that produces satellite-powered amplifiers, Wavestream. The US based company is an integral part of the high powered amplifier industry commonly used in defense and that industry generates revenues of some $450 million a year. The solid state amplifiers manufactured by Wavestream, specially designed for the high-power transmitting needs of the military, are a perfect fit with Gilat’s product line and strategy.
Gilat Satellite Networks (NASDAQ: GILT) is a leader in its field of design and development of new and evolved satellite and hybrid networking goods and services with products being available in 85 countries. Gilat provides value to its customers through wide-ranging end-to-end solutions and well managed network services.
Representing Gilat at the recent Mergermarket M&A; in Israel Conference that took place in Tel Aviv, Joshua Levinberg spoke about the Israeli banking system in comparison to the US capital market. In an interview with the national business newspaper Globes, he explained that in the Israeli high tech market, the options for raising investment on the capital market is typically done in New York. He went on to tout the advantages of M&A; in helping a company build an international presence.Representing Gilat at the recent Mergermarket M&A; in Israel Conference that took place in Tel Aviv, Joshua Levinberg spoke about the Israeli banking system in comparison to the US capital market. In an interview with the national business newspaper Globes, he explained that in the Israeli high tech market, the options for raising investment on the capital market is typically done in New York. He went on to tout the advantages of M&A; in helping a company build an international presence.
In a recent telephone interview for satellitemarket.com, Joshua Levinberg discussed Gilat's market position and current industry trends. He mentioned that in the VSAT arena, Gilat is one of the four dominant players, which control about 99% of the world-wide market. Gilat pioneered the US market 10 years ago, but currently focuses more on corporate satellite communications. As far as new direction, he sees great importance and opportunity in the military industry and plans are underway to introduce Gilat's communication satellite systems into that field.
Joshua also worked for GE Spacenet – (currently a subsidiary of Gilat) as long ago as 1995 where he played the role of Vice President of Marketing,(at that time a GE company). In 1997, Joshua took his vast experience in business development in the field of satellite communications and founded Global Village Telecom (GVT) where he performed as the first CEO. GVT is a leading telecommunications and Internet solutions provider based in Brazil. This company offers a wide range of innovative products and advanced solutions for the Brazilian telecommunications market. GVT offers its services and solutions directly to the customer using its own brands: GVT, POP and VONO and is a market leader in this field. In 2009 GVT was acquired by Vivendi for over approximately 4 Billion USD.
Levinberg also co-founded Satlynx S.A – now known as GE Satcom - and acted as the first Chairman of the Board. GE Satcom is a leader in the field of satellite communication with particular expertise in Europe, Africa and the middle East.
Invested Companies
Levinberg is known today as a successful businessman who made an investment in several companies, such as: Agropeace Bio Ltd, Kasamba (acquired by LivePerson - Nasdaq: LPSN), Capital Point (traded in TASE), C.I Industries, the parent company of Kargal, DenTack, ERAYO.com, Xsight systems, Go Networks, Vanadium Software Ltd, Matan Digital Partners and of course Gilat Satellite Netwroks Ltd. Joshua was heavily involved in several of these companies; information regarding a few of them can be found below.
Agropeace Bio Ltd
Agropeace Bio is an Israeli company specializing in the development of large-scale Biodiesel activities in Africa based on growing castor. These seeds are then used for oil extraction for the Biodiesel industry, as well as for oil in other commercial usage. Levinberg is a co-founder of Agropeace and ex Chairman of the board.
Vanadium Software Ltd
Vanadium Software Ltd. provides automated information technology policy management solutions. It offers an IT policy management solution that maps and manages the gap between the current IT status and the required IT policy; alongside a tool to streamline the task of controlling and monitoring the organization's performance. The company’s solutions enable organizations to define, automate, and monitor internal and external IT policies, regulations, and compliance. It serves insurance companies, banks, public companies, hi-tech companies, and commercial companies.
Levinberg is a member of Vanadium Board of Directors.
Matan Digital Printers
Matan Digital Printers is a leader in the development and manufacturing of cutting-edge digital printers for a wide range of industrial purposes. Matan offers a wide range of products and has been at the forefront of color digital printing technology for over a decade, offering unique solutions for demanding applications.
Levinberg is a member of Matan’s Board of Directors.
Capital Point Ltd.
Established in 2000 and publicly traded since June 2006, Capital Point is an investment company specializing in early stage high tech ventures. Capital Point owns two technological incubators: Meytag High Tech Ventures in the north of Israel and Ofakim High Tech Ventures in the south; Together it boasts a portfolio of 25 companies, focusing mainly on the fields of Medical devices, Bio-technology & Environmental technologies.
Levinberg served as a member of Capital Point’s Board of Directors until 2007.
Joshua Levinberg is an active investor in various high-tech endeavors. Even while increasing his investment activity, he has maintained a long-standing partnership with Gilat Satellite Networks, the satellite-based broadband communications company he co-founded in 2012. He joined his brother in creating JAL Ventures, which is deeply invested in several companies, including the following: Kargal, Matan Digital Printers, DenTack, NanoRep and Feedvisor. Levinberg went on to establish another company in Brazil, Global Village Telecom, which is involved in the provision of internet and telecom solutions to the country's people.
Links:
Joshua Levinberg profile on Vator
Read more about Joshua Levinberg on Peoplepond
Joshua Levinberg on LinkedIn
all rights reserved to Joshua Levinberg
