Joseph "Yossi" Vardi (born September 2, 1942) is an Israeli entrepreneur and investor recognized for his role in the early development of Israel's high-tech sector and internet industry. Over more than 47 years, he has been involved in founding and developing over 85 high-tech companies across software, energy, internet, mobile, electro-optics, and water technology.
Vardi is best known as the founding investor of Mirabilis, the company behind ICQ, the first web-based instant messaging application. His investment strategy focuses on early-stage "angel" funding, and he has helped build numerous startups, many of which were acquired by major corporations or went public.
Early Life and Education
Vardi was born in Tel Aviv. He studied at the Technion in Haifa, earning a B.Sc. in industrial management engineering. He later obtained an M.Sc. in Operations Research and a D.Sc., with his thesis receiving the Kennedy-Leigh Award. He is married to Talma and has three children, including Arik, who co-founded ICQ.
Career Beginnings and Public Service
In 1969, at age 26, Vardi co-founded TEKEM, an abbreviation for 'Technologia Mitkademet', and served as its first CEO. He was later appointed Director of the Investment Authority in North America and Consul for Economic Affairs at the Israeli Consulate in New York, contributing to the establishment of the Israel-U.S. Binational Industrial Research and Development Foundation (BIRD-F).
Returning to Israel, he became the first Director General of the Ministry of Energy, chaired the Israel National Oil Company, and served on the board of Oil Refineries Ltd. During his tenure, Israel discovered and developed oil fields in the Gulf of Suez. He co-founded Alon oil, International Laser Technologies, Granite Hacarmel, and other companies, and holds a patent on instant messaging on telephones.
Investment Strategy and Mirabilis
Since 1996, Vardi has focused on founding young internet companies. In that year, he became the founding investor of Mirabilis, which released ICQ, the first instant messaging application on the web. Mirabilis, which had practically no revenues, was sold to AOL just 19 months after product release for over $400 million. The sale inspired a generation of young Israeli entrepreneurs, coining the phrase "the Mirabilis Effect" according to Forbes.
Among companies he invested in or helped build are Answers.com (went public), Gteko (sold to Microsoft), Airlink (sold to Sierra Wireless), Tivella (sold to Cisco), Scopus (went public), CTI2 (sold to Audiocodes), Foxytunes (sold to Yahoo), Tucows (went public), wibiya (sold to Conduit), The Gift Project (sold to eBay), Epals (went public), and Starnet (sold to IAC/InterActiveCorp). Other investments include Come2Play, Fring, speedbit, Cellogic, BloggersBase, and Wefi.
Cultivating Innovation and Culture
Vardi founded Kinnernet, an annual three-day gathering of creative people at the shores of the Sea of Galilee. He chairs 4YFN (4 Years from Now), the startup event by Mobile World Capital Barcelona, and co-chairs the annual DLD (Digital, Lifestyle, Design) conference in Munich with Dr Hubert Burda. He also co-chairs the Stream unconference in Greece with Sir Martin Sorrell and co-hosts ICUC (Internet Cowboys UnConference) in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. He serves as Chairman of Volcano Summit, an ecosystem building platform for Latin America.
Public Sector and Peace Negotiations
After leaving government, Vardi co-chaired the European Union - Israel Strategic Business Dialogue and chaired several government-appointed commissions, including the Public Commission for the Regulation of the Electricity Sector. He served on the Advisory Council of the Bank of Israel and the Israel Securities Authority, and on the board of the Development Corporation for Israel. He is a board of governors member at the Technion and chaired the Jerusalem Foundation.
As Director General of the Ministry of Energy, he led oil-related negotiations in the peace agreement with Egypt. He later served as special advisor to Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Finance for regional cooperation, headed economic negotiations with Jordan, participated in multilateral talks with Palestinians, and served on the Israeli delegation to the Wye Plantation talks with Syrians. In 2013, he joined the Breaking the Impasse (BTI) forum, supported by the World Economic Forum.
International Activities and Awards
Vardi advised the World Bank and the United Nations Development Program on energy policy. He is a member of the World Economic Forum and serves on advisory boards including Blackberry Ventures and the Research Visionary Board of Motorola. He was selected by Wall Street Journal Europe for "Tech's Top 25" and won the TechCrunch Europe 2009 "Best investor personality" award. He received honorary doctorates from the Technion and Ben Gurion University, an honorary fellowship from the Open University, and twice received the Prime Minister Award for life achievements in high tech.
Legacy
Vardi's influence extends beyond individual companies to shaping Israel's startup ecosystem. His early bet on Artificial intelligence-adjacent technologies and internet infrastructure helped establish a culture of innovation. His work with events like Kinnernet and DLD connects entrepreneurs globally, fostering collaboration that spans Machine learning, Generative AI, and other emerging fields. His investment philosophy emphasizes early-stage support, often before technologies mature, as seen in his backing of companies that later integrated Deep learning and Neural network capabilities.