Hemi Peres: Start-up evaluations have fallen by 40%. The private placement market is in recession.
The Polaris fund management company, Polaris Venture Capital, has set up a $15 million sub-fund for general managers. The fund will be included in the new Polaris 3 venture capital fund. The fund will include several dozen managers of veteran portfolio companies managed by Polaris 1, Polaris 2 and Eucalyptus, as well as managers from the industry and strategic financial bodies.
The fund will constitute a separate legal entity. Participation units in it will be smaller than the fund’s minimum participation unit, and will apparently be in the tens of thousands of dollars, up to a maximum of $100,000. According to Polaris partner Aaron Mankovski, the fund’s goal is to expand its network of connections and heighten the loyalty of portfolio companies and strategic bodies. Mankovski said entities of this sort are common among US funds.
Polaris today announced the completion of the $500 million Polaris 3 fund. Polaris is the largest Israeli fund.
Published by Israel's Business Arena on May 21, 2000