Israeli venture capital firm JAL Ventures announced on Monday the completion of its USD 105 million JAL II fund. The company said it has already made five investments in B2B startups from the fund, some of which have raised follow-up rounds at significantly higher valuations.
Invested companies include insurtech firms Novidea and VOOM; e-mobility company IRP, which provides solutions to enhance electric vehicle performance; and cyber company Infinipoint, founded by former Palo Alto Networks executives. The fund’s fifth investment will be announced in the near future, JAL said.
JAL Ventures focuses on post-seed and Series A rounds. The VC firm invests in Israeli B2B companies across various sectors, including cybersecurity, enterprise software, AI, and fintech. The team aims to deploy the second fund across approximately ten startups.
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JAL’s first fund of USD 60 million was launched in 2017 by four general partners: Amiram Levinberg and Joshua Levinberg, both of whom were among the founders of Gilat Satellite Networks, together with Tal Shaked and Yair Elbaz. The team also includes Tal Grinstein Vaizer, principal, Jasmin Kelman, director of finance, and David Sikorsky, venture partner. The management team carried out investments through dedicated partnerships before the establishment of the first fund.
JAL has invested in 20 companies so far, six of which have already been acquired, while the rest have carried out significant late stage investment rounds. JAL’s portfolio includes cyber company Dome9, which was acquired by Check Point, as well as Perimeter 81, a leader in zero-trust network access that raised funds from leading international investors. The portfolio also includes online commerce AI company Feedvisor, digital printing company Velox, travel technology company Fornova, camouflage technology company Ametrine, and cleantech company Solutum, which develops biodegradable alternatives to plastic.
“Venture capital funds tend to invest in a large number of companies with the understanding that many will end up failing. They hope to be compensated with a limited number of successes,” Shaked said. “We do not adhere to this model. Some might say that we are risk-averse in this high-risk asset class. We prefer to carry out a relatively small number of quality investments every year to provide close on-hand support to each of them, which increases their chances of success. This is reflected in our high hit ratio over the years.”
“The greatest challenge startups face today is recruiting talent for key positions. This is the area where entrepreneurs need the most help,” added general partner Joshua Levinberg.
“We believe that a company’s success does not only depend on their technology, products, and market, but also on having a strong managerial backbone that can serve as a foundation for growth down the road. The extensive operational experience we’ve accumulated as founders and senior managers who have built up global companies enables us, as investors, to offer significant assistance to our portfolio companies at every stage of growth.”
The article was originally published by NoCamels, a leading news website covering breakthrough innovation from Israel for a global audience.