Librae Holdings Ltd., controlled by UK billionaire Vincent Tchenguiz has invested $8 million in Israeli medical device and agro-tech technological incubator and investment company Trendlines Group. Traded on the Singapore stock exchange, Trendlines Group share price rose 16.6%, giving a market cap of $53 million after news of the investment was announced. After the investment, Tchenguiz holds a 14.5% stake in Trendlines.
Tchenguiz has become one of the most significant investors in Israel's technological incubators. He holds a stake in Maayan Ventures Ltd. (TASE:MAYN), Xenia Venture Capital Ltd. (TASE:XENA), VLX and others. He has also invested directly in Israeli companies and venture capital funds including Capital Nature and IBF.
Trendlines has the franchise for medical device and agro-technology incubators as part of the Israel Innovation Authority's technological incubator program. It also operates an incubator in Singapore, a venture capital fund for follow-on investments in the incubator graduates, and Trendlines Labs, which develops products in its areas of expertise in collaboration with international companies.
Trendlines has 53 portfolio companies and has nurture two companies to IPOs - ETView Medical and Flowsense, which were subsequently sold for several hundreds of millions of dollars. It also sold non-invasive hernia mesh developer Polytouch to Covidien (today part of Medtronic) for about $40 million.
Tchenguiz said, "We believe in Trendlines business model and are convinced that this is a great opportunity. Our investments are currently focused on Europe, Israel and the US but we have also been considering Singapore as a target for some time, and see Trendlines as a channel for entering this market.
Trendlines chairman and CEO Todd Dollinger said, "We are very excited that Librae is joining us as an investor. The company has made many investments in Israel and worldwide and the group is much more than just a financial investor who can bring us strategic value."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on July 24, 2019
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