Israeli VC fund Carmel most active in 2012 with 11 first investments
Ninety venture capital funds made first investments in Israeli and Israel-related companies in 2012 according to the Most Active Venture Capital Funds report prepared by IVC Research Center. Nineteen Israeli and foreign venture capital funds made three or more first investments, with the most active being Carmel Ventures, an Israeli VC fund managed by Shlomo Dovrat and Avi Zeevi. Carmel made 11 first investments in 2012, compared with only three in 2011.
Horizons Ventures, controlled by Hong Kong investor Li Ka Shing, made 10 first investments, followed by two Israeli funds, Genesis and Gemini, each of which made seven first investments. Jerusalem Venture Partners made six first investments, followed by Magma Venture Partners with five.
Five different venture capital funds - including Pitango, Israel's largest fund - made four first investments in 2012. Eight others made three first investments, while each of 19 funds, including Israeli micro-funds, invested in two companies during the year. The remaining 52 venture capital funds made only one investment each.
"Israeli and foreign venture capital fund activity clearly demonstrate that the market is thriving and filled with players," explained Marianna Shapira, IVC's Research Manager. "At the same time," she noted, "most first investments in the last year were relatively small. This reflects a certain caution that investors are applying in their activity, trying to fully assess a company's potential before committing substantial funds."