Politicsיזהר שי

Yizhar Shai

Yizhar Shai is an Israeli entrepreneur and venture capitalist who served as a Knesset member for Blue and White and as Minister of Science and Technology from 2020 to 2021.

born 1963Founding Business LayersMinister of Science and TechnologyFounding Start-Up StadiumThe Next October project

Born: 16 July 1963, Ein HaShlosha
Occupation: businessperson
Party: Blue and White Israel Resilience Party
Education: Technion – Israel Institute of Technology

Yizhar Shai was born in 1963 in Ein HaShlosha

Shai was born in 1963 on kibbutz Ein HaShlosha to parents who came from Argentina. His family later moved to Jerusalem, where he attended the Hebrew Gymnasium.

He enlisted in 1981, joined the Paratroopers Brigade and fought in the First Lebanon War. He left the army in 1985 as a lieutenant. He later studied engineering at the Technion.

He worked in high tech and founded Business Layers in 1998, serving as its CEO until its sale to Netegrity in 2003. In 2006 he became a partner at Canaan Partners, and in 2014 he set up its Israeli branch. In 2011 he founded Start-Up Stadium, a community of entrepreneurs.

In 2019 he joined Israel Resilience and entered the Knesset on the Blue and White list. In May 2020 he became Minister of Science and Technology and left the Knesset under the Norwegian Law. He quit the government in January 2021, returned to the Knesset, joined Telem and lost his seat when the party did not run.

After politics he became a partner at Disruptive AI and chairman of Israel Acquisitions Corp. His son Yaron was killed in combat near Kerem Shalom on October 7. In December 2023 he and Eyal Waldman launched Next October to help create startups named after the victims.