Merged into Freightos, ticker now CRGO
GIAC

Completed

Freightos

CRGO
First $9.71
Merger $4.65
52%
Merger +6mo $2.76
72%
Recent $3.40
65%

Gesher I Acquisition Corp.

Raised
$100M
CIK
1853314
SPAC Ticker
GIACU
Merger
Freightos
Merged Ticker
CRGO
External link: SEC Filings

SPAC Team

Leadership

Ezra Gardner has served as our Chief Executive Officer and a member of our board of directors since our inception. Since 2012, Mr. Gardner has served as a Partner at Varana Capital, LLC, an investment firm he co-founded. As part of the Varana investment strategy of cooperative engagement, Mr. Gardner sits on or advises the boards of multiple public and private companies, working with each on strategic planning, operational dynamics, and balance sheet needs/restructuring. From 2009 to 2012, Mr. Gardner served as the Managing Partner and Portfolio Manager of Omnium Capital, LLC, a family office he co-founded in Tel Aviv, Israel. From 2005 to 2009, he was at UBS where he served as a Portfolio Manager and most recently Head of UBS’ US Equity Portfolio for the Fundamental Investment Group where he also sat on the US Trading Committee (Management Board for the US Equities Business). From 2001 to 2005, he served in senior analyst roles at MSD Capital (Michael Dell family fund management office) and Braahman Capital. From 1999 to 2001, he served as an analyst in the Investment Banking Group at JP Morgan. Mr. Gardner currently serves on the board of directors of Galileo Wheel and Neureality, both Israeli-based private businesses, and CCI, a Colorado-based private business. Mr. Gardner received a BA in Economics (with honors) and a BA in International Relations from Brown University. We believe Mr. Gardner is well-qualified to serve as a member of our board of directors due to his experience and relationships and contacts.

Omir Cherni has served as our Chief Operating Officer and a member of our board of directors since our inception. Mr. Cherni has significant experience in the Israeli venture and startup industry. Since 2016, Mr. Cherni has served as Chief Executive Officer of High House, a family office focusing on making real estate and technology investments. Since 2016, he has served as Chief Scientific Officer of Atlas Dynamics, an aerospace company that he founded that creates autonomous vessels, which has grown to become the biggest supplier of tactical UAVs in the EU. Since 2015, Mr. Cherni has served as Chief Executive Officer of LogiQa, a systematic and technology backed financial trading platform and fund manager that he founded which uses machine learning and artificial intelligence to outperform benchmarks in both fiat as well as crypto markets. From 2012 to 2014, he was at Jerusalem Venture Partners, one of Israel’s most successful venture capital firms, where he was an associate dealing with the firms’ deep tech and hardware-based investments. Mr. Cherni was a platoon commander in the Israeli Air Force Special forces and received an LLB and an MBA from the Hebrew University. We believe Mr. Cherni is well-qualified to serve as a member of our board of directors due to his experience and relationships and contacts.

Chris Coward has served as our Chief Financial Officer since our inception. Since March 2020, Mr. Coward has been a private investor. From March 2015 to March 2020, Mr. Coward held various roles with Point72 Latitude Investments, an investment platform comprising over 30 fundamental investors, data scientists, and quantitative researchers building technology-driven innovations in asset management. His positions at Point72 Latitude included Head of Singapore, where he built the firm’s equity, macro and data science capability, and Head of International Risk, where he oversaw the risk function for the Firm’s offices in Hong Kong, Japan, London, Singapore and Sydney. Mr. Coward was also a member of Point 72’s Risk Committee with responsibility for allocating approximately $60 billion in capital globally. From 1998 to 2014, Mr. Coward was a Portfolio Manager running quantamental global equity strategies at UBS and BlueCrest Capital. Mr. Coward received an MBA from Columbia University and BEc from Macquarie University (Sydney). He is a member of the Advisory Council of the National University of Singapore Centre for Asset Management Research and Investments and a Member of Rutgers Leading Disruptive Innovation Board. He has completed all levels of the CFA certification.

Philip Broenniman has served as a member of our board of directors since our inception. Since 2012, Mr. Broenniman has been Managing Partner and Portfolio Manager for Varana Capital, LLC, which he co-founded with Mr. Gardner. At Verana Capital, Mr. Broenniman invests in, and consults with the Board of Directors of, certain public and private companies, working with each on strategic planning, financing, and/or balance sheet restructuring. Mr. Broenniman established and refined the opportunistic/deep value, multi-asset class investment paradigm that is the foundation of Varana Capital’s investment focus. Since May 2020, he has been the President and Chief Operating Officer of Ipsidy Inc. (OTCQB: IDTY), a public company that delivers a suite of secure, mobile, biometric identity solutions, available to any vertical, and has also served on the board of directors of such company since March 2020. From 2003 until 2008, he was Managing Partner of Cadence Investment Partners, LLC (“Cadence”), and from 2008 until 2011, he was a principal and Portfolio Manager with Visium Asset Management, LP, which acquired Cadence in 2008. Mr. Broenniman began his portfolio management career with the Bass family of Fort Worth, TX in 1993, investing in event strategies, assisting on derivative hedging and investment strategies, and developing his skills in derivative analytics, risk management, and portfolio construction. From August 2010 until February 2018, Mr. Broenniman was co-founder and a member of Cadence Distributors, LLC, an import/export company focused on the fragrance industry. From February 2012 to April 2017, Mr. Broenniman was a founding investor in, and served as an advisor to, Cacao Prieto, a bourbon and rum distillery, providing strategic guidance during the initial launch of the business. From July 2019 until March 2020 upon successful closing of its merger, Mr. Broenniman served as a member of the Board of Directors and Special Committee evaluating strategic options for CSS Industries, Inc. (Formerly NYSE: CSS). Mr. Broenniman received a BS from Duke University, an MBA from University of Virginia, and is a Chartered Financial Analyst. We believe Mr. Broenniman is well-qualified to serve as a member of our board of directors due to his experience and relationships and contacts.

Eugene Dozortsev has served as a member of our board of directors since our inception. Mr. Dozortsev has been a managing member of Newtyn Management, LLC, an investment firm, since he co-founded it in July 2011. Previously, he was a Senior Analyst at Tyndall Management from October 2003 to 2011. He previously served on the board of directors of Collective Growth Corporation, a Nasdaq-listed special purpose acquisition company like our company that consummated an initial business combination with Innoviz Technologies, an Israeli based Global Leader in LiDAR Sensors and Perception Software for Autonomous Driving, in April 2021. Mr. Dozortzsev received a B.S. in Finance from NYU Stern School of Business. We believe Mr. Dozortsev is well-qualified to serve on our board of directors due to his experience, including with Collective Growth, and contacts and relationships.

Noah G. Levy has served as a member of our board of directors since our inception. Mr. Levy has been a managing member and portfolio manager at Newtyn Management, LLC since he co-founded it in July 2011. Prior to that, Mr. Levy served as a senior member at Tyndall Management from 2002 to 2011 and as an analyst at Goldman Sachs, an investment bank and financial services company, from 2000 to 2002. Mr. Levy received a B.A. from Dartmouth College. Mr. Levy currently serves on the board of Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, Inc. a Nasdaq-listed biotechnology firm. Mr. Levy is also a member of the ACLU investment committee. We believe Mr. Levy is qualified to serve on our board of directors due to his investment management experience and strong financial and business acumen.