Glilot closes $110m third Israel VC fund

Glilot partners Photo: PR
Glilot partners Photo: PR

The oversubscribed fund will invest in Israeli early-stage startups in artificial intelligence, big data and cybersecurity.

Israeli venture capital fund Glilot Capital Partners has announced the closing of its $110 million third investment fund. As with Glilot I and Glilot II, Glilot III will invest in Israeli early-stage startups in artificial intelligence (AI), big data and cybersecurity.

Glilot focuses on startups in the seed and A stages. Apart from capital investment, the fund offers entrepreneurs support, guidance and direct access to international players, drawing on the fund leaders' extensive experience and the expertise of a dedicated team to add value to the funded startups. Glilot believes that entrepreneurs should receive backing and support, especially in moments of crisis, and it strives for success with each and every company.

Glilot Capital was founded in 2011 by managing partners Kobi Samboursky and Arik Kleinstein, former officers in the R&D unit of the IDF Intelligence Corps. The fund's team of experts is headed by David Johnson, a partner in the Blackstone Group and formerly vice president of corporate development at IBM and senior vice president of strategy at Dell.

To date, Glilot has invested in 20 companies, with six of its first eight portfolio companies acquired by global corporations: Aorato by Microsoft, Insightera by Marketo (newly acquired by Adobe), LightCyber by Palo Alto Networks, Porticor by Intuit, BlazeMeter by CA Technologies and Solebit just recently by Mimecast. Other portfolio companies include Protego, Exceed.ai, Intsights, YouAppi, CyberX, Genoox, Mintigo, Inflowz, BrandTotaland Upstream.

Samboursky told "Globes" that the new third venture capital fund was oversubscribed for several reasons, "Investors like to invest with teams with whom they have invested in the past. Almost all our previous investors, participated again. Today there is a rise in demand for technological investments and the status of Israel as a target for investments by large institutional investors around the world has strengthened in recent years. All these factors resulted in very large demand but we decided not to increase the fund above $110 million."

he added, "We strongly believe in the Israeli entrepreneur. Israeli entrepreneurs have come a long way in recent years, proving that they lead not only in technology but also in marketing and sales. We are pleased and proud that all 23 of the first entrepreneurs in whom we invested have built successful companies and been able to generate significant returns also at the personal level. We remain committed to the success of all the entrepreneurs who have chosen to work with us," "We built Glilot as an entrepreneur-friendly fund providing entrepreneurs with real and tangible assistance. Having ourselves experienced the unique challenges faced by Israeli entrepreneurs seeking to build global companies, we are able to offer budding entrepreneurs help in coping with these challenges," Kleinstein added.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on October 15, 2018

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2018

Glilot partners Photo: PR
Glilot partners Photo: PR
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