Executive Officers

Dr. Avi S. Katz, 61
Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors, Secretary,
President and Chief Executive Officer

Dr. Katz has spent approximately 33 years in international executive positions within the TMT industry working for privately held start-ups, middle-cap companies and large enterprises. In these roles, Dr. Katz has been instrumental in launching and accelerating entities, building teams, large scale fund-raising, developing key alliances and technology partnerships, M&A activities, business development, financial management, global operations and sales and marketing. In October 2017, Dr. Katz founded GIG1, a Private-to-Public Equity (PPE) company formed for the purpose of acquiring a company in the technology industry. GIG1 completed its initial public offering in December 2017, in which it sold 14,375,000 units at price of $10.00 per unit, with each unit consisting of one share of GIG1 common stock, three-quarters (3/4) of one warrant to purchase one share of GIG1 common stock and one right to receive one-tenth (1/10) of one share of GIG1 common stock, generating aggregate proceeds of $143,750,000, and, at that time, was listed on the NYSE under the symbol “GIG.” On February 22, 2019, after intensive screening of more than 400 companies worldwide, GIG1 entered into a stock purchase agreement to acquire Kaleyra at a transaction enterprise value of $187 million with combined cash and/or promissory note consideration of $15 million. Kaleyra is a global company specialized in providing mobile messaging services for financial institutions and companies of all sizes. The transaction closed on November 25, 2019, and GIG1 was renamed Kaleyra, Inc. and listed on the NYSE American stock exchange under the symbol “KLR” at that time. Dr. Katz has served as the Executive Chairman of Kaleyra, Inc. since the consummation of the transaction in November 2019. In March 2019, Dr. Katz founded GIG2. GIG2 completed its initial public offering in Junes 2019, in which it sold 17,250,000 units at a per unit price of $10.00, with each unit consisting of one share of GIG2 common stock, one warrant to purchase one share of GIG2 common stock, and one right to receive one-twentieth (1/20) of one share of GIG2 common stock, generating aggregate proceeds of $172,500,000. GIG2 is listed on the NYSE under the symbol “GIX.” GIG2 is engaged in intensive efforts of searching and screening companies worldwide, and has not yet completed its initial business combination. Dr. Katz serves as the Executive Chairman and Secretary of GIG2. He is also the co-founder of Cognizer, a software company specializing in deep-learning powered natural language artificial intelligence, and has been the Executive Chairman of Cognizer’s board of directors since March 2019. Prior to GIG1 and GIG2, Dr. Katz dedicated 10 years to bootstrap, develop and manage GigPeak (NYSE American: formerly GIG), originally known as GigOptix, Inc. He served as Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer and President of GigPeak. From its inception in 2007 until its sale in April 2017 to IDT for $250 million in cash, GigPeak provided semiconductor integrated circuits (ICs) and software solutions for high-speed connectivity and video compression. While Dr. Katz was at GigPeak’s helm, the company completed 10 M&A deals. From 2003 to 2005, Dr. Katz was the chief executive officer, president, and member of the board of directors of Intransa, Inc., which at the time provided full-featured, enterprise-class IP-based Storage Area Networks (SAN). From 2000 to 2003, Dr. Katz was the Chief Executive Officer and a member of the board of directors of Equator Technologies, which at the time sought to commercialize leading edge programmable media processing platform technology for the rapid design and deployment of digital media and imaging products. Equator Technologies was sold to Pixelworks, Inc. for $110 million in 2005. Dr. Katz has held several leadership positions over the span of his career within the technology industry since serving as Member of Technical Staff at AT&T Bell Laboratories in the 1980s, and has made numerous angel investments in high-tech companies around the world. Dr. Katz is a graduate of the Israeli Naval Academy and holds a B.Sc. and Ph.D. in Semiconductors Materials from the Technion (Israel Institute of Technology). He is a serial entrepreneur, holds many U.S. and international patents, has published many technical papers and is the editor of a number of technical books. Dr. Katz is married to Dr. Dinu, one of our directors.

Brad Weightman, 65
Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Weightman has more than 30 years of global finance and accounting experience with a combination of large, mid-sized, and small public and private companies in the semiconductor, internet of things, hardware and software industries. Mr. Weightman has been the Chief Financial Officer of GIG2 since August 2019, and was also the Chief Financial Officer of GIG1 from that time until the closing of its business combination with Kaleyra, Inc. on November 25, 2019. Before then, beginning in April 2017, Mr. Weightman was Senior Business Controller at IDT, providing strategic and financial support for the General Manager and the division, prior to IDTI being acquired by Renesas Electronics Corp (TSE 6723:JP) in April 2019. Prior to GigPeak being acquired by IDT in April 2017, Mr. Weightman was Corporate Controller at GigPeak from September 2015 to April 2017. Before joining GigPeak, Mr. Weightman was self-employed as a financial consultant in 2015. Additionally, Mr. Weightman has held various finance and accounting positions at Echelon Corporation, an early developer of the internet of things market, supporting company growth from early stages to a mid-sized public company, as well as large corporations such as Advanced Mircro Devices, Inc. and Xerox Holdings Corporation. Mr. Weightman received a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from San Jose State University, and is a Certified Public Accountant in California (inactive).

Andrea Betti-Berutto, 55
Hardware Chief Technical Officer & Director

Mr. Betti-Berutto is a senior technologist and entrepreneur with more than 25 years of experience in Radio-Frequency and Optical Interconnect Systems and Components and Radio-Frequency Integrated Circuit Semiconductor technologies. He has served as the Hardware Chief Technical Officer of GIG2 since August 2019. Mr. Betti-Berutto was previously starting in April 2017 through June 2019 the Fellow of Optical Interconnect Business Units at IDT, which was acquired by Renesas Electronics Corp (TSE 6723:JP) in 2019. Mr. Betti-Berutto joined IDT through the acquisition of GigPeak in April 2017, and he led the integration of the of GigPeak technical team into IDT. At GigPeak, he served as the Chief Technology Officer since April 2007 through the April 2017 acquisition by IDT. Previously, Mr. Betti-Berutto was Co-Founder of iTerra Communication, a pioneer in semiconductors for new generation 40G optical networks, where he served as VP of Engineering for RF and Optical Communication Product Development and as a member of the board of directors. After a reorganization of iTerra, he co-founded GigOptix (which was renamed GigPeak in April 2016) and, as Chief Technology Officer (CTO), led the growth of the company’s technologies and product lines into the 100/200G optical market, mmWave transceivers for future 5G network deployment and transceivers for sensing application. Together with Dr. Katz and the rest of the GigPeak executive leadership team, Mr. Betti-Berutto drove the acquisition and integration of 10 companies and technologies. Before starting iTerra Communication, he worked for various companies in microwave system and devices for Basestation and Space Communication such as Fujitsu (USA), European Space Agency (Netherlands) and Space Engineering SpA (Italy). Mr. Betti-Berutto is a very hands-on executive with large experience in product/technology and business roadmap definition, strategic initiatives, company re-organization, product development and NPI processes. He has published multiple papers in IEEE journals and conferences and owns U.S. patents in the area of high-speed RF and Optical Integrated circuits. Mr. Betti-Berutto holds the degree of Electronic Engineer (MS) from University of Rome “La Sapienza” (Italy) with specialization in Electromagnetism.

Peter Wang, 64
Software Chief Technical Officer & Director

Mr. Wang served as a member of the board of directors of GIG1 from December 2017 until its business combination with Kaleyra, Inc. in November 2019. He has served as the Software Chief Technical Officer of GIG2 since August 2019. He is a managing partner of Tekhill Catalyst LLC, a cross-border business strategy and technology transfer advisory service, since January 2018. He was a Managing Partner of Optino Network LLC from September 2016 through December 2017. He also serves on the Technology Advisory Council for Benhamou Global Ventures since April 2014. Mr. Wang previously served as the founding President of CoolCloudz, an Infrastructure-as-a-Service company, and the Sr. Vice President and General Manager of the Cloud Storage Products Business Unit of UIT, in China between 2010 and 2012. Mr. Wang co-founded Retrevo Inc., a venture funded Web 2.0 vertical search company employing machine learning technology, and served as the Vice President of Engineering and Operations and Board director between late 2005 and 2009. Mr. Wang led the founding of Intransa Inc. and served as the founding President and Chairman of the Board in late 2000. Intransa Inc. was a pioneer IP SAN company in the storage industry, backed by prominent Silicon Valley venture capital firms. Through his tenure at Intransa Inc. through mid-2005, Mr. Wang not only served as the CTO and a Board director, but also as Vice President of Engineering and Marketing, driving global strategic partnerships, at different stages. Prior to Intransa Inc., Mr. Wang led the corporate Technology Development Center at 3Com Corp. and served in various leadership positions from 1995-2000. While at 3Com, Mr. Wang spear-headed wide ranging technology investigations, prototyping, cross-division technology strategies, and strategic and university research partnership efforts, on VoIP, high-speed networks, broadband and wireless access, intelligent infrastructure, and network appliances. Prior to 1995, Mr. Wang led advanced development of distributed computing technologies at TRW Space & Defense and received TRW Chairman’s Award for Innovation. Mr. Wang was instrumental in a number of IEEE 802, IETF and ANSI standards. He has been awarded over 20 U.S. patents and has published a number of IEEE conferences and other journal papers. He holds MS in Management Sciences from Stanford University, M.S. in EECS from U.C. Berkeley, and B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Michigan.

Board of Directors

Neil Miotto, 73
Director

Mr. Miotto is a financial consultant and a retired assurance partner of KPMG LLP (“KPMG”), where he was a partner for 27 years until his retirement in September 2006. Since his retirement from KPMG, Mr. Miotto has provided high-level financial consulting services to companies in need of timely accounting assistance and has served on public company boards. He is deemed to be a “audit committee financial expert” under SEC rules. While at KPMG, Mr. Miotto focused on serving large public companies. Mr. Miotto also served as an SEC reviewing partner while at KPMG. Mr. Miotto became a member of the board of directors of GIG1 in October 2017 and has continued in that role after that company became Kaleyra, Inc. Mr. Miotto has also served on the board of directors of GIG2 since March 2019. In addition, Mr. Miotto served on the board of directors of Micrel, Inc. prior to its sale to Microchip Technology Inc. in May 2015, and on the board of directors of GigPeak from 2008 until its sale to IDT in April 2017. He currently serves on the board of directors of Cognizer, a position he has held since March 2019. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Baruch College of The City University of New York.

John Mikulsky, 74
Director

Mr. Mikulsky became a member of the board of directors of GIG1 since December 2017 and has continued in that role after the company became Kaleyra, Inc. He joined the board of directors of GIG2 and the board of directors of Cognizer, in March 2019. Mr. Mikulsky served as the Chief Executive Officer of Traycer Diagnostic Systems, Inc. from August 2016 to December 2017, and as a director, from October 2014 to December 2017. He previously served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Endwave Corporation (Nasdaq: ENWV) from December 2009 until June 2011, when Endwave Corporation was acquired by GigPeak; subsequent to such acquisition, he served on the board of directors of GigPeak from June 2011 until its sale IDT in April 2017. From May 1996 until November 2009, Mr. Mikulsky served Endwave Corporation in a multitude of capacities including Vice President of Product Development, Vice President of Marketing and Business Development and Chief Operating Officer. Prior to Endwave Corporation, Mr. Mikulsky worked as a Technology Manager for Balazs Analytical Laboratory, a provider of analytical services to the semiconductor and disk drive industries, from 1993 until 1996. Prior to 1993, Mr. Mikulsky worked at Raychem Corporation, most recently as a Division Manager for its Electronic Systems Division. Mr. Mikulsky holds a B.S. in electrical engineering from Marquette University, an M.S. in electrical engineering from Stanford University and an S.M. in Management from the Sloan School at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Dr. Raluca Dinu, 46
Director

She has served as the Chief Executive Officer of GIG2 since August 2019 and as a member of its board of directors since March 2019. From April 2017 to May 2019, Dr. Dinu was the Vice President and General Manager of IDT’s Optical Interconnects Division. Prior to that, she held several executive-level positions at GigPeak, including Executive Vice President and Chief Operation Officer from April 2016 until it was acquired by IDT in April 2017, and before that, as its Executive Vice President of Global Sales and Marketing from August 2015 to April 2016, and as its Senior Vice President of Global Sales and Marketing from December 2014 to August 2015. From February 2014 to September 2017, Dr. Dinu was a member of the board of directors of Brazil-Photonics, in Campinas, Brazil, a joint venture that GigPeak established with the Centro de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento em Telecomunicações (CPqD). From 2001 to 2008, Dr. Dinu was VP of Engineering at Lumera Corporation (“Lumera”) (Nasdaq: LMRA). Lumera was acquired by GigPeak in 2008, and Dr. Dinu joined GigPeak at that time. Dr. Dinu holds a B.Sc. in Physics and Ph.D. in Solid State Condensed Matter Physics from the University of Bucharest, and an Executive-M.B.A. from Stanford University. Dr. Dinu is married to Dr. Katz, our Executive Chairman of our Board of Directors, Chief Executive Officer, President and Secretary.