Israeli fintech company BondIT has raised $14.25 million through a strategic investment from China's Fosun Group. This is Fosun's first investment in Israeli fintech and the company will have representation on the Herzliya based company's board.
Founded in 2012 by CEO Etai Ravid, the company provides solutions to fixed income traders and their portfolios, helping investment managers create and optimize bond portfolios with easy-to-use automation tools powered by proprietary machine learning algorithms. BondIT leverages data science and artificial intelligence learning to overcome the complexity and inefficiencies often experienced in fixed income products.
Ravid said, "The long-term vision of BondIT is to bring significant efficiency to the global bond markets through the application of artificial intelligence and data science, and help our customers gain a competitive advantage through increased productivity and better client centricity. We are excited to be included in the Fosun network of innovative companies and for the opportunity to increasingly use our unique technology to benefit investors. And with Fosun members sitting on the board as part of the deal, we believe they will bring their investment experience and China market expertise to the company."
Fosun chairman Guo Guangchang said, "Innovation is key to development, and crucial to the future of humanity. As such, we are embracing the opportunities arising from the latest technological breakthroughs in AI and Industrial 4.0. We believe BondIT compliments the Group's own financial ecosystem and as well as playing an important role in the upgrading of wealth management institutions with its disruptive technology. This investment also marks a continuation of our investment into the Israeli market, a market the Group remains optimistic on."
Fosun's other investments in Israel include the $77 million acquisition of Dead Sea minerals cosmetics company Ahava in 2016 and the $240 million acquisition of medical device Alma Lasers in 2013. The Group had wanted to buy The Phoenix Holdings Ltd. (TASE: PHOE1;PHOE5) from Delek but the deal was nixed by the regulator.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on October 27, 2017
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