Last night, Israeli police reported the death of a female eScooter rider following a collision with a truck in Tel Aviv yesterday. Today (Monday), it was revealed that the victim was marine biologist, high-tech entrepreneur, and CEO of Israeli startup ECOncrete - Dr. Shimrit Perkol-Finkel.

“Her mission lives on”

“Shimrit was a loving mother of 3, wife, sister, talented scientist, and brilliant entrepreneur. She was our inspiration, and swept us away with her love of the sea, and her goal to preserve it. Her mission lives on. But, today, we are in mourning,” relayed from ECOncrete, the company which she headed as CEO and founded in 2012 along with Dr. Ido Sella.

Perkol-Finkel’s love for the sea set the base for the eco friendly concrete mix developed by the company she founded. The company’s unique concrete helps preserve and assist the development of the marine ecosystem. By using the mix, marine infrastructure like marinas, piers, and breakwater structures. The company also develops special concrete elements for building on land as well, including concrete walls that encourage growth of endolithic algae, mosses and climbing vegetation. Under Perkol-Finkel’s leadership ECOncrete’s unique mission and product was cemented on TIME magazine’s 100 best inventions of 2019.

Perkol-Finkel has a PhD in Zoology, Marine Biology, and Ecology from the Tel Aviv University, the same university, in combination with University of Bologna, where she completed her postdoctoral research.

Gili Golander, a fellow serial entrepreneur and close friend of the deceased, wrote in a Facebook post: “A wonderful wife, amazing mother, incredible friend, fabulous sister, devoted daughter, celebrated entrepreneur, and a brilliant marine biologist, who tried to help the world. Just on Friday we had a dinner party together, we had so many more plans for the future. Sadly, these will never be realized. She will go on living in my heart.”