Doron Ilai, Founder of austiNuts, Inc., grew up snacking on freshly roasted nuts, seed, and dried fruits along the sunny shores of the eastern Mediterranean. After earning a bachelor's degree in psychology and statistics from the University of Haifa, Doron pursued a doctoral degree in psychology at the University of Texas at Austin.

He snacked on nuts and dried fruits through rigorous hours of study but he was unable to find dry roasted nuts with the same fresh taste and crunchiness as the ones he enjoyed growing up. This insatiable craving planted the seeds of creation of austiNuts, Inc.