StiVentures, the investment company founded by diamond merchant Benny Steinmetz, completed a private placement of $50 million, led by Softbank Europe Ventures. The company valuation for the placement was not disclosed, but is estimated to be $300-400 million, after money.
Also participating in the placement were Comverse Technology and Pacific Capital Group, which is the majority shareholder in Global Crossing, a fiber optic communications network. StiVentures announced that it will shortly hold another placement of $10 million, to be raised from private investors in the high-tech sector.
StiVentures chairman Benny Steinmetz said that the placement is part of the company’s five-year strategic plan, during which the company plans to invest $500 million in technology companies worldwide.
Steinmetz said that the company’s new partners will probably re-invest in it. According to StiVenture’s manager of its Israeli office Erez Aluf, , the company raised the capital in order to create partnerships with strategic groups. Until now, Steinmetz and his family were the sole investors in the company. Steinmetz refused to disclose how much he has invested to date.
StiVentures runs its operations from its head office in Amsterdam, and has offices in New York and Israel and currently employs 16 experts and consultants in various fields.
Since its establishment, StiVentures has invested in over 35 companies in the Internet infrastructure, optic routing and wireless technology fields. StiVentures usually invested at early stages, in exchange for a large minority holding. Softbank invested jointly with StiVentures in several companies, including From2.com and Diamond.com
Published by Israel's Business Arena on 23 October 2000