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Built on the premise of

doing more with less

About Picodya

Picodya introduces game-changing technology with the proven potential to empower diagnostics access worldwide.

The company was founded by Yehuda Yavetz-Chen and Kibbutz Hatzerim, which established Netafim—the innovator of drip irrigation technology—five decades ago. While Netafim introduced “grow more with less,” Picodya’s pico technology will allow the world to “diagnose more with less.”

At Picodya, we continue and expand the innovative spirit and value of striving for a healthier planet.

Led by an exceptional team

Tzvika Barkai

Founder & CEO

25+ years of experience spanning business management, operations, R&D, and engineering. Tzvika was the CEO of ExtraPlastic, VP Operations and Director of Product Development at Netafim, and VP Service Supply chain at Orbotech. Currently serves as the Business Chairman of Kibbutz Hatzerim and a board member at Netafim.

Yehuda Yavets-Chen

Founder & CTO

A developer of complex multidisciplinary systems for over 30 years, Yehuda is the mastermind behind Picodya’s groundbreaking technology. He holds numerous patents and is the founder of several startups. These include Phinergy (Israel), Faro Innovation (Italy), and Advanced Robotics (USA).

Uri Keler, MD

Product & Clinical Development

Uri is a medical doctor and experienced health IT professional with a strong clinical, product, and business-management background.

Liraz Kantor, PhD.

Senior Biological Researcher

Liraz is a KOL in QC management, genetic kit development, and calibration in compliance with ISO and GMP standards.

Ilana Margalit, PhD.

Senior Biochemist Researcher

Ilana is a life science technology specialist, inventor, and developer who has led product development with worldwide sales exceeding $10M/year.

Tomer Keren, PdD.

Senior Biological Researcher

Tomer is a senior scientist with a 20-year track record in R&D management in the biomedical IVD industry.

Merav Yarmus, PhD.

VP RA & QA

Merav has more than 15 years of experience in regulatory and clinical affairs, mainly throughout development phases and successful submissions for FDA clearance and CE marking.

Ilina Kolker, PhD.

Senior Biochemist Researcher

Ilina’s 12+ year R&D track record includes industrial and academic experience in sensor product development for medical diagnostics.

Lindy Kahanovitz, PhD.

Senior Biological Researcher

Lindy boasts extensive work in the biotech diagnostic industry developing and validating a variety of POC assays for IVD infectious diseases.

Yakov Blumenstein, PhD.

Senior Biomedical System Engineer

Yakov’s 14+ years in R&D includes technology & production, laboratory operations, and process development management.

Toma Tomov, PhD.

Senior Application Researcher

10+ years in experimental design and execution, method development, data analysis, and DNA nanotechnology.

Eyal Shalom, BSc.

Computational Biologist

Eyal has vast experience in building data and analytics solutions using advanced statistical and machine learning models.

Ran Kleinhaus, BSc.

Head of Product Development

Over 2 decades of experience in technology and product development in cost-effective mass production of technologies.

Amir Marcus, BSc.

Head of Product Engineering

Amir is a mechanical engineer who has been managing projects in multidisciplinary product development and engineering for 10+ years.

Collaborating with world-class
advisors

Eli Bensimon

Founder & Chairman

30+ years in senior roles including CEO of Netafim Mexico, VP Americas, and VP Business Development for Netafim, and Business Chairman of Kibbutz Hatzerim. Currently Chairman of Negev Energy, General Partner at SIBF, and board member at both Netafim and Kibbutz Hatzerim.

Avi Schweitzer

Board Member

45+ years of experience in product development and engineering. Currently Netafim’s CTO, previously VP Product, VP R&D, and Head of Research. BSc and MCs in electrical engineering and BSc in chemistry from the Technion and BSc in chemistry from BGU.

Or Ben Shoshan

Board Member

Current managing director at SIBF VC with 15+ years of VC experience managing and mentoring startups; chairman and BoD member for several fast-growing tech companies.

Nathan Keller, MD PhD.

Advisor

Director of clinical microbiology at Sheba Medical Center. Acting chairman of institutional review board at Sheba. Former chairman of the Israeli Society for Clinical Microbiology.

Irun R. Cohen, MD

Advisor

Prof. of immunology at the Weizmann Institute with 50+ years in research. Director of T Cell Vaccination, Director of Robert Koch-Minerva Center, Director of National Institute of Biotechnology, among others. Recipient of numerous awards including the Robert Koch Prize (Germany), the Teva Founders Prize, the AESKU Prize, and an UFIS Prize.

Doron Gerber, PhD.

Advisor

Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, with 15+ years of experience in proteomics mapping viral interactions against the human proteome. PhD in biological chemistry from the Weizmann Institute.

Dr. Daniel Duek, MD PhD.

Advisor

Chief, Human Immunology Section at NIH, Program Co-Director, PREMISE. 20+ years of experience at the VRC-NIH with 15+ years as a tenured senior investigator. Recognized global KOL in immunology.

Prof. David Margel, MD PhD.

Advisor

Current Director of Men’s Health at Raphael Hospital. Expert in oncology with deep research and clinical expertise in cancer screening and early detection techniques.

Hadar Marcus, PhD.

Advisor

Senior Researcher at the Israel Institute for Biological Research and an expert in the development of immunological assays for evaluation of cellular and humoral immune responses. Ph.D. from Weizmann Institute and a Clinical Research Curriculum Certificate from the NIH.

Fred Samuels, PhD.

Advisor

36+ years of senior management experience in R&D, process development, and manufacturing of point-of-care in vitro diagnostics. Former managing director of Orgenics Alere’s Israel division, acquired by Abbott in 2016. PhD. in Biochemistry from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and a Rockefeller Foundation Post-Doctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical School.

Join our team

Join us as we pave the way to a healthier planet. See the open positions and feel free to apply.

Sales engineer

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Sales engineer

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Sales engineer

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