# Lilac Bar David

> Lilac Bar David is the New York-based co-founder and CEO of Lili, a financial technology platform for U.S. small businesses. A former founder and CEO of Pepper and business-development executive at Leumi Card, she combines banking and payments experience with an interest in making everyday business finances easier to manage.

- **Role:** Co-founder & CEO at Lili
- **Organizations:** Lili, Pepper, Leumi Card (now Max)
- **Nationality:** Israeli
- **Education:** Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Accounting, Tel Aviv University, MBA in Management Information Systems, Tel Aviv University
- **Known for:** Led Pepper’s development and reported growing its team to 250 people., Named to Forbes’ The Next 1000 list in 2021., Included in NYC Fintech Women’s 2021 Inspiring FinTech Females.

## Career timeline

- **Before 2015** — Served as EVP of Business Development and Strategy at Leumi Card, creating strategic partnerships and an early-stage fintech program.
- **2015** — Began building Pepper, the Israeli mobile banking business she led as founder and CEO.
- **2018** — Co-founded Lili with Liran Zelkha; some company biographies use 2019, while Startup Nation Central and Inc. record 2018.
- **2020-01** — Launched Lili’s U.S. product, according to her own interviews.
- **2021-05** — Lili raised a $55 million Series B, bringing total funding to $80 million.
- **2024** — Lili expanded AI-based accounting tools and appeared at number 120 on Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500.
- **2025-06** — Spoke at American Banker’s Digital Banking conference with Dun & Bradstreet’s Leigh Luxenburg.
- **2026-01** — Lili announced its expansion toward growing businesses with multiple employees.
- **2026-06** — Lili announced embedded credit solutions and an MCP server for accountants.

## Achievements

- Led Pepper’s development and reported growing its team to 250 people.
- Named to Forbes’ The Next 1000 list in 2021.
- Included in NYC Fintech Women’s 2021 Inspiring FinTech Females.
- Led Lili through a $55 million Series B in May 2021.
- Lili ranked number 120 on Deloitte’s 2024 Technology Fast 500, with 980 percent revenue growth over the ranking period.
- Lili ranked number 457 on the 2024 Inc. 5000 and number 3,133 in 2025.

## Latest updates

- **2026-01** — Lili announced a move toward growing businesses with multiple employees on January 21.
- **2026-06** — Lili announced integrated business credit solutions with Fundbox.
- **2026-06** — On June 24, Lili announced its MCP server for accountants, connecting compatible AI assistants to client-authorized banking data.

## Links

- Website: https://lili.co/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lilachbardavid

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/lilac-bar-david
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-14