Ilana Diamond is the Managing Director of AlphaLab Gear, Innovation Works’ hardware start-up accelerator which provides physical product startups with investment, mentorship and connections.  She helps entrepreneurs make rapid progress through the early stages of product and customer development  by leveraging her experience and network, gained from over twenty years of leading and growing companies, from early stage to exit.

Prior to joining AlphaLab Gear, Ilana was CEO of Sima Products,  an international consumer electronics accessory company that develops, manufactures and distributes products under the Sima, First Alert, Cherokee  and MGM Studio brands.  Ilana built Sima’s management team, developed and managed a network of Asian manufacturers and led profitable sales growth at national brick and mortar retail chains such as Target and Walmart , internet retailers such as Amazon.com, and specialty catalog retailers.  Based on innovative technology developed by Sima, she also founded and managed a commercial alerting startup, raised outside capital and spun the company off into a separate entity. In 2010, Ilana negotiated the sale of Sima and transitioned operations to the new owners.  Earlier in her career, as a management consultant for PwC, Ilana provided marketing strategy advice, turnaround assistance and merger and acquisition support to executive management of Fortune 500, middle-market and growing companies.

Ilana holds a BA in Biological Sciences and Economics from Northwestern University, and an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.