Veteran Israeli venture capital fund Pitango has leased 1,400 square meters of office space in Melisron (TASE: MLSR) and AFI Properties (TASE: AFPR) Landmark A high-rise office tower in Tel Aviv for NIS 40 million annually over 10 years. The price reflects NIS 140 per square meter per month.
Pitango currently has offices in the Ackerstein Tower in Herzliya Pituah and sources believe that it plans leaving its current location. This is a further example of how Israel's venture capital sector has moved from its traditional center in Herzliya to the Sarona district of Tel Aviv and the surrounding streets including Ha'arba'ah Street and Menachem Begin Street.
Pitango, which was founded in 1993 by Chemi Peres and Rami Kalish is one of Israel's oldest venture capital funds, which since its establishment has invested $3 billion. According to PitchBook, it has $465 million available for investment.
Pitango was one of the most prominent venture capital funds of the 1990s and early 2000s, but over the last decade it has experienced greater competition from younger venture capital funds as well as from foreign funds, which have frequently succeeded in winning the attractive investments.
Among Pitango's most prominent investments in recent years is Prof. Amnon Shashua's AI company, AI21 Labs, which also attracted investment from Nvidia and was valued at $1.4 billion in the most recent round in November 2023. Pitango was the first investor in the company, which now competes with OpenAI and Google. Pitango is also a major shareholder in Volumez, which is currently managed by the former vice president of Intel, Amir Faintuch; as well as in the quantum computing company, Quantum Source, whose board includes former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.
The fund has recorded several magnificent exits in previous decades, including the sale of Anobit to Apple for $400 million, Super Dimension to Covidian for $300 million, the sale of Check to Intuit for $370 million, and the sale of Leaba Semiconductor to Cisco for $219 million.
More recently, it has recorded fewer such exits, including the sale of Optimal Plus for $365 million and the merger of Taboola with the Ion Group for $545 million, which was Pitango's most impressive exit in recent years.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on June 25, 2024.
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