Yonit Serkin, Managing Director, MassChallenge Israel

Yonit Golub Serkin is the Managing Director of MassChallenge Israel. Previously she was a founder of Moonscape Ventures served as Deputy Chief of Staff for Economic Development at the office of Mayor Michael Bloomberg and is the spokeswoman for New York City Economic Development Corporation. 

Following is a summary of our interview with Yonit:

01:34               We heard that your first job was as a figure skating instructor?

04:01               How did you go from figure skating to being the spokesperson for the New York City Economic Development Corporation? 

 08:14             …and now you're in Jerusalem leading Masschallenge. How did that happen? 

11:12               What is MassChallenge?

12:41               Do you think Israel is making the right choices to use this startup ecosystem as an engine to fuel the economy in Israel?

16:26               Why is Masschallenge not industry-focused and why do you think this is an advantage?

 19:44              How does mentorship and networking with Corporates work in Masschallenge?

21:17                What do the corporates get out of acceleration programs? Are there other models that you're seeing emerging ?

 26:35              How did COVID impact your operations and model?

32:06               Why is health tech a priority for MassChallenge in Israel and globally? And are you seeing new themes emerge in the innovation space for MassChallenge such as social impact, sustainability? 

38:14               What are your best three tips for startups in the health tech space who want to work with a larger corporation or want to solicit relationships with them?

40:51               Are you seeing a shift in female leadership in the technology innovation space?