About Evogene

Ofer Haviv

President and Chief Executive Officer

Mr. Ofer Haviv holds the position of Evogene’s President and CEO as of late 2004. Prior to that he held the positions of company COO and CFO from 2002 to 2004 and was involved in Evogene’s spin-off from Compugen in 2002. At Compugen, he held the position of Director of Finance and Treasurer of Compugen (NASDAQ: CGEN) for four years, during which time the company completed two private placements and an IPO on NASDAQ

Mr. Haviv holds a B.A. degree in Economics and Accounting from Faculty of Management, Tel Aviv University and is a Certified Public Accountant in Israel.

Yaron Eldad

Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Yaron Eldad was appointed as CFO in April 2022, having filled various CFO positions over the last 25 years in public and private technology and biotechnology companies, including Yamba Group Int. Ltd., Recoly NV, and e-Sim Ltd.

Mr. Eldad holds a B.A. in Economics and Accounting from the Ben-Gurion University, Israel, an Executive MBA in Strategic Management from the Hebrew University, Israel, and an M.A. in law from the Bar-Ilan University, Israel.

Liat Foigel Wejgman

Vice President of Human Resources

Ms. Liat Foigel Wejgman was appointed Vice President Human Resources in January 2022, previously serving as Director of Human Resources from 2018. Ms. Foigel Wejgman joined Evogene in 2015 and has held various positions in the company over the years. Prior to joining Evogene Ms. Foigel Wejgman worked in human resource positions at an online trading leading company.

Ms. Foigel Wejgman holds a B.A. degree in Social Science with a major in Technological Marketing from Sapir College.

Dr. Gabi Tarcic

Vice President of Product

Dr. Gabi Tarcic was appointed as Evogene’s VP Product in September 2024. Dr. Tarcic has extensive experience in research and development projects and as a senior executive in the biotech industry. Prior to joining Evogene, Dr. Tarcic has served in various positions at Fore Biotherapeutics (formerly NovellusDx Israel), most recently as its Chief Technology Officer.

Dr. Tarcic holds a Ph.D. in life sciences from The Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel.

Dr. Ilia Zhidkov

Vice President of Computational Platform

Dr. Ilia Zhidkov was appointed as Evogene’s Vice President of Computational Platform in February 2023. Dr. Zhidkov joined Evogene in 2011 as a Bioinformatician in the Computational Genomics Department and has held various managerial positions in the company over the years.

Dr. Zhidkov holds a Ph.D. in Genetics from Ben Gurion University.

Nir Nimrodi

Chairperson of the Board

Mr. Nir Nimrodi has been actively involved in Evogene’s board activities since 2020, initially serving as a special advisor to the board, and from September 2022 as a member. He has been appointed as Chairperson of the Board, effective March 5, 2025.

With 25 years of diverse international experience, Mr. Nimrodi has held leadership roles across both start-ups and large global enterprises in the life sciences, pharmaceutical, and biotechnology industries.

From June 2019 thru September 2024, Mr. Nimrodi has served as Chairman and CEO of Accellix Inc., a company dedicated to setting a new standard in quality control for cell and gene therapies.

Prior to joining Accellix, he was the Chief Business Officer at Intrexon Corporation, a leader in synthetic biology, where he was responsible for all commercial-stage enterprises. Under his leadership, Intrexon transitioned from an R&D-focused organization to a company with multiple market-ready products, each with the potential to generate hundreds of millions of dollars in annual revenue.

Earlier in his career, Mr. Nimrodi held key executive positions at Life Technologies, Proneuron Biotechnologies, Mindsense Biosystems, and Teva Pharmaceuticals.

He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and an MBA from Tel Aviv University.

Sarit Firon

Board Member

Ms. Sarit Firon joined Evogene’s Board of Directors in 2016 and was appointed Chairperson on August 10, 2021. As of March 2025, she continues to serve as a Board Member.

Ms. Firon is a Managing Partner at Team8 Group, where she plays a pivotal role as the founder of Team8 Capital, the venture capital arm of Team8 Group. Sarit’s journey with Team8 began in 2019 when she spearheaded the establishment of Team8 Capital, the company’s first investment fund, primarily focusing on early-stage investments in Seed and Series A Rounds.

With over three decades of global investment and operational expertise spanning Silicon Valley, New York, and Tel Aviv, Sarit has made a significant impact on the tech industry. Her track record includes nurturing companies from their inception to IPOs and acquisitions. Sarit has invested in some of the most prominent companies within the Israeli ecosystem, such as Datorama, Tipalti, Fiverr (NYSE:FVRR), Armis, Innoviz, Otonomo, OpenWeb, Demisto, Argus, Talon, Dig, Planck among others.

In addition to her accomplished career in investment, Sarit has held various leadership positions, assuming roles such as CEO, CFO, Chairperson, and active Board Member at category-leading companies, offering her expertise throughout their entire journey, from the seed stage to post-IPO success.

Before embarking on her journey with Team8 Capital, Sarit served as the Managing Partner of Cerca Partners, a venture firm specializing in co-investments in tech companies.

Sarit holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Accounting and Economics from Tel Aviv University and has completed an Advanced Studies Diploma in Accounting from the same institution.

Mr. Dan Falk

Board Member

Mr. Dan Falk joined Evogene’s Board of Directors in November 2021 and has extensive experience of more than 20 years in serving as a financial expert on public and private company boards, most recently on the boards of Nice Ltd. (NASDAQ: NICE), and Innoviz Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: INVZ). Additionally, in the past Mr. Falk held various executive positions in Orbotech Ltd. and Sapiens International Corporation (NASDAQ: SPNS).

Mr. Falk holds a BA in Economics and Political Science, and an MA in Business Administration both from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Dr. Adrian Percy

Board Member

Dr. Adrian Percy has served as Evogene director since February 2019. Dr. Percy serves on the board of directors of Nufarm, AgPlenus, BioLumic, and FA Bio. He is also a member of the science and technology boards of Biotalys and Harpe Bio. Dr. Percy currently serves as the Executive Director of the N.C. Plant Sciences Initiative at North Carolina State University where he also holds a professorship in Plant and Microbial Bology. He is a venture partner with DYDX Capital and frequently acts as an advisor to companies through his own consultancy company, Nomad Technology Consulting. Previously, Dr. Percy served as the CTO of UPL Ltd. and the head of research and development for the Crop Science division of Bayer as part of its executive committee. During his 16-year tenure at Bayer, he also led crop protection development activities for Bayer in North America and regulatory affairs activities across the entire division of Crop Science. Dr. Percy has held positions in the research and development departments of Rhone Poulenc, Aventis CropScience and Bayer in France, Germany and the United States.

Dr. Percy earned a bachelor’s degree in pharmacology at the University of Liverpool, as well as a master’s degree in toxicology and a doctorate in biochemistry at the University of Birmingham.

Leon Recanati

Board Member

Mr. Leon Y. Recanati has served as Evogene director since 2005. Mr. Recanati has served as chairman and chief executive officer of GlenRock Israel Ltd., his private investment company, investing since 2003 in Venture Capital and private equity companies. Previously, Mr. Recanati was chief executive officer and/or chairman of IDB Holding Corporation; Clal Industries Ltd.; Azorim Investment Development and Construction Co Ltd.; Delek Israel Fuel Corporation; and Super-Sol Ltd. He also founded Clal Biotechnologies Industries Ltd., a biotechnology investment company operating in Israel.

Mr. Recanati is a member of the board of directors of Kamada, Ofil Systems, and Shavit Capital. He is active in education and health endeavors through several NGO’s, Chair of MadaTech Israel National museum of Science Technology and Space, Vice Chair of Israel Cancer Association.

Mr. Recanati holds an MBA from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Honorary Doctorates from the Technion Institute of Technology and Tel Aviv University.

Prof. Oded Shoseyov

Board Member

Prof. Oded Shoseyov has served as Evogene director since 2018. Prof. Shoseyov is the scientific founder of 21 companies, including: Futuragene Ltd., Collplant Ltd., Biobetter Ltd., GemmaCert Ltd., SP-Nano materials Ltd., Melodea Ltd., Valentis Nanotech. Ltd., Paulee CleanTec Ltd., Smart Resilin Ltd., Sensogenic Ltd., SavorEat Ltd, Daika, Ltd, Neswell Group Ltd, Miruku Biotech Ltd, Cooling Crops Ltd, RNAway Ltd.,  and Karme Yosef Winery. Prof. Shoseyov is a faculty member of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he conducts research in plant molecular biology protein engineering and nano-biotechnology. His group focus is on Bio-Inspired Nanocomposite materials. He has authored or co-authored more than 350 scientific publications and is the inventor or co-inventor of 105 patents. Prof. Shoseyov is a TED speaker and a co-owner and winemaker of BRAVDO winery. Prof. Shoseyov received the Outstanding Scientist Polak Award for 2002, the 1999 and 2010 Kay Award for Innovative and Applied Research, the 2012 Israel Prime Minister Citation for Entrepreneurship and Innovation,  the 2018 Presidential Award for his contribution to the Economy and Society of Israel and the 2024 Landau Prize for Biotechnology.

Prof. Shoseyov holds a BSc from the Hebrew University, MSc from the Hebrew University, and a Ph.D. from the Hebrew University.