Israeli VC Firm iAngels Raises $55.5M For 1st Institutional Fund

Israeli women-led VC firm iAngels announced the closing of $55.5 million in capital on Tuesday for iAngels Ventures, the firm’s first institutional fund. The investment is anchored by a $25 million investment from the European Investment Fund (EIF), the largest the EIF has made in Israel to date and after a multi-year vetting process that examined all Israeli VCs, iAngels indicated.

The VC firm was founded in 2014 by Mor Assia and Shelly Hod Moyal and specializes in early-stage startups positioned to scale. Its portfolio companies include firms that are going public like Arbe Robotics and eToro; early-stage startups like Better Juice and Amai Proteins; mid-stage companies like Binah.ai and Immunai; and acquired companies like Weissbeerger, Applitools, and ZooZ.

With more than $300 million in assets under management and a global network of 20,000 members, iAngels says it offers professional investors worldwide exclusive access to Israeli-founded high-tech startups.

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The new fund, Assia tells NoCamels in an interview, “is very complimentary to what we’ve been doing to date – investing and growing as a company. EIF is a very significant partner for us and it will now be branching out into Israel [through iAngels].”

EIF Chief Executive Alain Godard offered that the agency was “pleased to be supporting one of the first equity agreements between EIF and Israel, which will contribute to bridging EU-Israel startup and venture capital markets.”

“Through its active role in the European business angel network and the innovation arena, iAngels will be able to create additional ties and synergies between Israeli and European investors, helping businesses to grow and innovate,” Godard said.

Firepower and growth

Assia says the $55.5 million in capital gives iAngels “more firepower” to back startups and will allow it to continue pursuing more impact-focused sectors such as digital health, food tech, and sustainability-minded companies alongside enterprise software and deep tech firms.

Hod Moyal tells NoCamels that iAngels is unique in that it greenlights investments into companies in any sector, but is especially proud to invest in technologies and products that are providing something positive for the world.

“Mor and I have been audacious and we are more likely to go into markets that are emerging. We were early investors in blockchain in Israel, for example, as well as food tech and health tech,” she says.

Hod Moyal says the institutional fund is important and the logical next step because entrepreneurs look for investors that are able to back them in those first few years when they are not generating revenue and are, in fact, losing money.

“Investors are there for the journey. With this capital, we can give [our portfolio startups] the support they need to grow,” she explains.

And companies are growing at a much faster rate, Hod Moyal points out. “The markets are accelerating so fast and things are happening so quickly. We are seeing so many IPOs and SPAC deals recently but many of these companies have been around for a decade. And younger startups are enjoying the tailwinds,” she says.

Assia says the rapid growth is a sign of the maturity of the ecosystem and the huge steps entrepreneurs are willing to take.

“The Israeli startup ecosystem has reached a new level of maturity, moving from ambitious startups to building sustainable billion-dollar tech companies with a global footprint,” Assia said previously in a statement announcing iAngels Ventures. “We are well-positioned now to lead rounds and provide significant support to our companies from inception to exit.  We are proud that our portfolio companies are driving innovation and firmly believe that Israel is uniquely capable of cultivating technologies that will generate impact around the globe.”

Israel is “going in the footsteps of Silicon Valley,” argues Hod Moyal, drawing in big players in the venture capital industry, more funds, and thinking much more globally.

“We used to see [Israeli] companies that were mostly R&D or a tech product and they were looking to sell or exit after a few years. We now see Israeli entrepreneurs looking to build deca-corns [a private company valued at $10 billion or more]. It’s remarkable and inspiring,” she tells NoCamels.

In a testament to strong working relations, a number of founders from iAngels’ portfolio companies participated in the new institutional fund including Talmon Marco, founder and CEO of H2Pro and former founder and CEO of Viber and Juno; Eyal Gura, co-founder of Zebra Medical Vision, and Kobi Marenko, founder and CEO of Arbe Robotics.

Hod Moyal adds, “Successful Israeli entrepreneurs often pay it forward by investing time and capital to help the next wave of Israeli entrepreneurs profit from their success. We’re honored that some of our most successful entrepreneurs see how iAngels contributed to their success and chose iAngels Ventures Fund as the vehicle for investing in the next wave of Israeli start-up and scale-up companies.”

In addition to Hod Moyal and Assia, the general partners of iAngels Ventures include iAngels Chairman David Assia, an experienced entrepreneur and prominent Israeli angel investor. 

“iAngels Ventures is invested, and will continue to invest, in industries ripe for disruption and growth, where the potential for both impact and returns are high. Whereas previously the adoption of technology took years, if not decades, we are now seeing rapid adoption of technologies, a sign we see as the world readily accepting a tech-dominated future. I’m honored to partner with so many of our LPs who share this vision with us,” he said in a statement.

“We are the only ones who do what we do,” Hod Moyal tells NoCamels. “We can be there from the beginning and throughout the journey, which can be long and challenging. We believe that every entrepreneur can work with iAngels. We have an unbelievable platform and we are looking to build real, long-lasting partnerships and connect with people.”

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