JANVEST Technologies raises $5m Israel Angel fund

The fund will invest in 10-12 early stage Israeli technology start-ups, of which seven have already been selected.

JANVEST Technologies has announced the closing of a $5 million Angel fund to be invested in 10-12 early stage Israeli technology start ups. Seven start ups have already been selected and the fund will allocate up to $500,000 to each company, and provide advisory services and business development support from the firm’s bi-national management team.

By investing at the seed level in Israeli web and software-based companies, JANVEST aims to capitalize on what it sees as a growing investment gap in the country’s technology market. JANVEST managing partner Daniel Frankenstein said, “Operating in this space, provides us with access to premium investment opportunities, preferred investment terms, and the ability to make a real difference in each of these companies”.

In Israel, JANVEST has a team of veteran technology executives to manage its on-the-ground operations including two of its co-founders, Felix Zilberstein and Gerry Sapir, and its chairman, former Mossad chief, Major General (ret.) Danny Yatom, who also for many years oversaw R&D for Israel's military.

JANVEST’s US co-founders, Philadelphia-based Brian Rosenzweig and San Francisco-based Frankenstein, designed the fund to encourage a wider base of accredited North American investors to participate in Israel’s emerging technology market.

Rosenzweig said, “We saw a real demand amongst individual American and Canadian investors to have a piece of the start up nation, and decided to meet that demand with a practical, low cost and risk mitigated investment vehicle.”

JANVEST’s portfolio companies include Totalboox a ‘Read First, Pay Later’ e-book distribution and consumption platform, Sensegon, a psycho-social digital advertising system, and BioCatch Ltd., an information security company using advanced behavioral biometrics to prevent fraud.

JANVEST said that it plans to roll out additional Israel-focused funds in the second quarter of 2013.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 19, 2013

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2013

Twitter Facebook Linkedin RSS Newsletters âìåáñ Israel Business Conference 2018