Professor Gil Avnimelech is a senior faculty member, the Director of the Entrepreneurship Center, and co-head of the MBA specialization in Strategy, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship at Ono Academic College. He previously served as the Vice Dean for Academic Affairs (2021–2023), Vice Dean for Research (2015–2020), and Deputy Head of the BA program (2012–2014). From 2017 to 2019, he was part of the management team at the StartOno Accelerator, guiding three cohorts of entrepreneurs. In 2011, he founded OnoVation—the college’s entrepreneurship center—which has supported numerous student ventures and led three student teams to victory in the prestigious Biztec business plan competition at the Technion from 2011 to 2013. Professor Avnimelech teaches courses on entrepreneurship and innovation at both Ono Academic College and Tel Aviv University.
As one of Israel’s leading researchers in innovation and entrepreneurship, Professor Avnimelech’s work focuses on the Israeli innovation ecosystem, entrepreneurial finance, accelerators, open innovation, ecosystem development, and innovation policy. He has published over 30 articles in top academic journals, contributed more than 15 chapters to academic books, authored numerous working papers, and received several research grants.
Deeply engaged in Israel’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, Professor Avnimelech serves as a consultant, mentor, lecturer, and researcher with expertise in lean startup methodologies, business model design, business planning, open innovation, and innovation policy. He has participated in five EU Framework Program research projects since 1999 and contributed to four research projects for various Israeli government authorities. He served as academic advisor to the IVC Journal from 2004 to 2008 and co-edited a special 2019 issue on open innovation. Earlier in his career, he was an equity analyst at Poalim Capital Markets (2000–2001) and a research assistant at the Bank of Israel’s research department (1998–1999).
Prior to joining Ono Academic College, Professor Avnimelech was a postdoctoral research associate with Professor Maryann Feldman at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and held another postdoctoral position at Tel Aviv University. He earned his Ph.D. from the School of Management at Ben-Gurion University, holds an M.A. in Strategy and a B.A. in Economics from the Hebrew University, and also obtained an M.A. in Economics from Tel Aviv University.
