Bridge’s management team combines strong complementary backgrounds in technology, finance, M&A, and international business development together with strong networks in both Israel and in Cleveland. Michael Goldberg oversees Bridge’s efforts in Cleveland, Ohio while Avshalom Horan runs Bridge’s operation in Tel Aviv.
Michael Goldberg
Michael Goldberg is a Managing Partner of the Bridge Investment Fund. Goldberg is also an Assistant Professor in the Department of Design and Innovation at the Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western Reserve University. Goldberg’s massive open online course (MOOC) called Beyond Silicon Valley: Growing Entrepreneurship in Transitioning Economies, has attracted over 45,000 students from 190 countries and has been translated into 12 languages. Goldberg spoke about the impact of his MOOC at TEDxHeraklion in Crete in February 2015.
Goldberg was the Director of International Business Development for America Online, responsible for structuring and negotiating international partnerships in Asia, including AOL’s joint venture with Lenovo to develop interactive services for the China market. Goldberg spent several years in South Africa working for the National Democratic Institute, designing and implementing voter education programs for South Africa’s historic first democratic election in 1994. Goldberg also worked for Microsoft and the International Management Group (IMG).
Goldberg has deep experience teaching entrepreneurship in international markets. He was awarded a Fulbright fellowship in 2012 to teach entrepreneurship at the National Economics University in Hanoi, Vietnam. Goldberg has also taught courses on entrepreneurial management and finance at Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey and the ALBA Graduate School of Business in Athens, Greece. He has conducted seminars on behalf of the US Department of State on entrepreneurship in Cambodia, Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Laos, Macedonia, Morocco, Myanmar, Spain, Tunisia and Vietnam.
Goldberg is active in the entrepreneurship community in Cleveland, serving as a mentor to entrepreneurs through Jumpstart and FlashStarts. He has appeared as a frequent guest panelist on MSNBC’s “Your Business” and written on international entrepreneurship for CNBC, Entrepreneur.com and The Huffington Post.
Goldberg earned a BA from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, MA in International Relations from the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University and MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Avshalom Horan
Dr. Avshalom Horan is a Managing Partner of the Bridge Investment Fund. Horan has an extensive background in seed investment and management of technology companies through their early stages. During his service in the Israeli Military Intelligence, he was in charge of a department for special operations overseeing the development of major projects involving state of the art technologies. Horan was the VP of a technology subsidiary of the Bank Leumi Investment Group and served the board of directors of several private and public Israeli companies. He founded and directed a technology incubator in Israel where several start-up companies were seed funded.
Horan was the chairman of Simbionix, a company that was started in that incubator and later co-located in Cleveland. Simbionix is a lead developer of surgical simulation systems and was acquired by 3D Systems in 2015 for $120 million. Horan is a venture partner with Tene, an Israeli Private Equity Fund. Horan holds a Ph.D. in Engineering-Economic Systems from Stanford University, and is a decorated Colonel (res.) in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF).
Michael Goldberg
Michael Goldberg is a Managing Partner of the Bridge Investment Fund. Goldberg is also an Assistant Professor in the Department of Design and Innovation at the Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western Reserve University. Goldberg’s massive open online course (MOOC) called Beyond Silicon Valley: Growing Entrepreneurship in Transitioning Economies, has attracted over 45,000 students from 190 countries and has been translated into 12 languages. Goldberg spoke about the impact of his MOOC at TEDxHeraklion in Crete in February 2015.
Goldberg was the Director of International Business Development for America Online, responsible for structuring and negotiating international partnerships in Asia, including AOL’s joint venture with Lenovo to develop interactive services for the China market. Goldberg spent several years in South Africa working for the National Democratic Institute, designing and implementing voter education programs for South Africa’s historic first democratic election in 1994. Goldberg also worked for Microsoft and the International Management Group (IMG).
Goldberg has deep experience teaching entrepreneurship in international markets. He was awarded a Fulbright fellowship in 2012 to teach entrepreneurship at the National Economics University in Hanoi, Vietnam. Goldberg has also taught courses on entrepreneurial management and finance at Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey and the ALBA Graduate School of Business in Athens, Greece. He has conducted seminars on behalf of the US Department of State on entrepreneurship in Cambodia, Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Laos, Macedonia, Morocco, Myanmar, Spain, Tunisia and Vietnam.
Goldberg is active in the entrepreneurship community in Cleveland, serving as a mentor to entrepreneurs through Jumpstart and FlashStarts. He has appeared as a frequent guest panelist on MSNBC’s “Your Business” and written on international entrepreneurship for CNBC, Entrepreneur.com and The Huffington Post.
Goldberg earned a BA from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, MA in International Relations from the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University and MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Avshalom Horan
Dr. Avshalom Horan is a Managing Partner of the Bridge Investment Fund. Horan has an extensive background in seed investment and management of technology companies through their early stages. During his service in the Israeli Military Intelligence, he was in charge of a department for special operations overseeing the development of major projects involving state of the art technologies. Horan was the VP of a technology subsidiary of the Bank Leumi Investment Group and served the board of directors of several private and public Israeli companies. He founded and directed a technology incubator in Israel where several start-up companies were seed funded.
Horan was the chairman of Simbionix, a company that was started in that incubator and later co-located in Cleveland. Simbionix is a lead developer of surgical simulation systems and was acquired by 3D Systems in 2015 for $120 million. Horan is a venture partner with Tene, an Israeli Private Equity Fund. Horan holds a Ph.D. in Engineering-Economic Systems from Stanford University, and is a decorated Colonel (res.) in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF).
