OUR STORY

Cockpit Innovation was the first of its kind, an airline venture arm with a mission to enhance innovation and invest in early-stage entrepreneurs with disruptive technologies in the fields of Aviation and Air Travel. Established by EL AL Israel Airlines in 2015, Cockpit Innovation gained fast traction, partnering with Jet Blue Airlines and Lufthansa Systems and, at the same time, welcoming new shareholders, Boeing Industries and Gate Group.

We have built our three main pillars around innovative products, venture creation, and strategic investments to partner globally with startups for digital transformation in the emerging era.

WHAT WE DO

SOURCING

We screen and profile solutions for identified challenges across industries

DEVELOPING

We develop industry designated and innovative solutions. By partnering with startups we build products and validate them with our ecosystem

TRAINING

We build an holistic training and educational programs to airlines and airports in cybersecurity, data science & analytics

APPLYING

We apply innovation across our network that leading to direct and meaningful business impact

INVESTING

We invest and scale promising early-stage startups developing cutting-edge solutions in the field of Aerospace and Air-Travel

MILESTONES

2015

Founded by EL AL Israel Airline and Initiation of Air-Travel Investment Fund

2016

Implemented first accelerator in partnership with JetBlue Airways

2017

Welcomed new shareholder, aircraft manufacturer, Boeing

2018

Launched special innovation program with Lufthansa Systems

2019

Welcomed new shareholder, culinary giant, gategroup

2021

Initiated Cybersecurity for Aviation program

2024

Initiated FAST PASS to PoC

THE TEAM

Cockpit leverages a multidisciplinary team of individuals that bring together a wealth of experience and knowledge in strategic innovation, investment management and global growth. 

Oz Eliav​

CEO

Oz is the wizard of finance, innovation and aviation! Before working for Cockpit, Oz was part of the investment team at Entrée Capital, a leading VC in Israel, the United Kingdom and the U.S., and previously an Associate at PWC. His extensive experience empowers him to lead Cockpit activity for the past years and develop an extraordinary start-up portfolio successfully

Omri Levavi

Head of Global Platform

Yaniv Yair

Head of Innovations

Yaniv brings operational excellence and innovation leadership, with a skill set in cross-functional project management. Yaniv served as the VP R&D at Bank Hapoalim, where he successfully transitioned platforms and implemented automation tools. He also served as CTO & Operations Director at Matrix Global. Yaniv commitment is to fostering growth and progress

Tovit Meir-Lahav

Head of Marketing & Operations

Tovit has extensive marketing and operations experience in many management roles. She was previously the Head of Operations at SOSA, and Director of operations at Alcide.io, a data center security start-up, and has over a decade of experience in retail, sales and marketing in the U.S. Tovit keeps us on-track, on-time and on-the-ball all the time!

Board of Directors

Chen Amram

Director, EL AL Director of Infrastructure and information security

Federico Germani

Director, Gategroup Chief Commercial Officer & President LATAM and APME

Dr Ronen Yochpaz

Chairman of the Board, EL AL CIO

I really like working with the Cockpit team, they are very responsive and innovative, the partnership is good, they have ideas that promote the travel tech, which is very important, a normal fund understands money, they understand both money and the travel market which is very unique, terms like GDS, DCS are no stranger to the cockpit team and that’s what I was looking for in a partner.
Meir Hadassi Turner
Founder & CEO, AeroCRS
Our experience with Cockpit has always been great. A lot of smart people, with meaningful insights and a wide network of connections that are always available for us, when we need them.
Eran Shust
Co-Founder & CEO, Splitty
Embarking on a journey of entrepreneurship can get very lonely sometimes. This is why it is critical to have the right traveling companion, that is what we found in Cockpit. They have never stopped supporting, providing and pushing us to new boundaries, and most importantly with a true passion and commitment to the success of the company that went way beyond normal working hours (7 AM breakfasts with Oz during weekends became a norm)
Udi Segal
Founder & CEO, IntellAct
Cockpit has provided new revenue streams, while significantly reducing company expenditure. This relationship has created great business impact for our company.
Nimrod Borovitz
Former VP of Strategy & Innovation, EL AL Airlines
The partnership with Cockpit constitutes a unique bridge to the global ecosystem of startups in fields that are relevant to us, as well as access to new markets and leverage for Boeing’s research and business development activities.
Brian Schettler
Senior Managing Director, Boeing HorizonX Ventures
We wouldn't have the ability or opportuntiy to view and reach out to Israeli start-ups the way that Cockpit provides them to us. They have vetted them very professionally. This process has brought huge value to Lufthansa Group.
Dr. Jorg Liebe
Senior Director Digital Innovations, Lufthansa Group
Cockpit has helped us connect with Airlines and OEMs, as well as providing us with expert guidance in the unique business processes of aviation. The fact that Cockpit is an actual part of these industry leaders is a huge advantage which adds legitimacy and experience to their operations.
Gideon Shmuel
CEO, ePlane
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