Yair Vardi, a former officer in Israel's Intelligence Corps, Unit 8200, is a successful entrepreneur, mentor, and investor from Israel. Vardi is the founding partner of Fusion - a VC & accelerator that targets Israeli start-ups in search of growth opportunities in the US. In his role as Fusion's partner, Vardi has facilitated connections between hundreds of start-up Israeli founders and leading VCs, tech executives, like-minded entrepreneurs in LA, NYC, and Silicon Valley. Beyond his entrepreneurial pursuits, Vardi serves on the board of American Jewish University (AJU), and mentors for TAMID Group, IAC Eitanim & Hillel at UCLA.

Vardi's passion for entrepreneurship and technology and his talent in helping young start-ups grow has been recognized by Forbes Magazine, who named him to their annual "30 Under 30" Israel list in 2018. Vardi's expertise in the Israeli start-up ecosystem has been built on years of experience working at the Consulate General of Israel in Los Angeles, where he oversaw US-Israel technology and innovation partnerships.