Valens Appoints Semtech COO to Board

15 September, 2026

Asaf Silberstein brings over two decades of semiconductor scaling experience and reunites with former PowerDsine CEO Igal Rotem on Valens' board

Israeli chipmaker Valens Semiconductor has appointed Asaf Silberstein, Chief Operating Officer (COO) of U.S. semiconductor company Semtech, to its Board of Directors. The appointment became effective on September 10, and Silberstein will serve as a Class II director until the company’s 2029 annual meeting of shareholders.

Silberstein brings more than two decades of experience in the semiconductor industry, specializing in operations, supply chains and the transition of products from initial manufacturing to high-volume production. This background is particularly relevant to Valens as the company seeks to translate its technologies and design wins in the automotive and audio-video markets into larger-scale revenues.

Silberstein joined Semtech in 2010 and has held a series of senior positions overseeing the company’s global operations. In 2023, he was appointed COO, shortly after Semtech’s acquisition of Sierra Wireless, which significantly expanded the company’s operations. In this role, his responsibilities were broadened to include the company’s business units, sales, operations and information technology. Earlier in his career, he held management positions at Microsemi, PowerDsine, 3Com and ECI.

A particularly notable chapter in Silberstein’s career was his tenure at Israeli semiconductor company PowerDsine, a pioneer in Power over Ethernet technology. He joined the company in 2000, serving first as Vice President of Operations and later as COO during a period in which PowerDsine expanded its business, went public on Nasdaq and was eventually acquired by Microsemi in 2006 for approximately $246 million. Following the acquisition, Silberstein remained with Microsemi in a senior global operations role.

The PowerDsine connection is also significant in the context of Valens. The company’s board already includes Igal Rotem, a co-founder and former CEO of PowerDsine who led the company through its IPO and eventual sale. Valens is therefore bringing together two executives who were part of PowerDsine’s leadership during its growth phase: Rotem on the entrepreneurial and business side, and Silberstein on the operational side.

The appointment also reflects one of Valens’ key challenges at its current stage of development. The company has established connectivity technologies such as HDBaseT in the audio-video market and MIPI A-PHY in automotive applications. Its next challenge is to convert customer and partner design wins into meaningful high-volume production, a process that requires sophisticated supply-chain management, close coordination with semiconductor manufacturers and production partners, and the ability to rapidly scale volumes.

Valens CEO Yoram Salinger highlighted Silberstein’s experience in bringing differentiated semiconductor technologies to high-volume global markets. Silberstein, for his part, said he has been following Valens and its technology for many years. While there is no known significant prior business relationship between Silberstein and Valens, his renewed connection with Rotem and extensive experience at Semtech make the appointment particularly relevant to the company’s next stage of growth.

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