Pitango Launches $150M Health Tech Fund, Leads Investment in Genome Diagnostics Startup

Pitango Venture Capital is looking to raise $150 million for a new fund dedicated to healthcare and digital health technology, the firm announced on Thursday.

Pitango said the health tech fund will operate alongside Pitango’s Early-Stage Tech Fund and the Pitango Growth Fund, and will focus on “highly disruptive, game-changing entrepreneurs and ventures” in digital health, health IT, and medical tech. The firm added that the fund will also look into opportunities in diagnostics, biopharma, food- and agri-tech.

The health tech fund will be managed by Ittai Harel and Dr. Guy Ezekiel, both partners at Pitango Venture Capital.

Pitango also announced that the fund made its first investment, leading a $7 million funding round in Israeli medical tech startup Variantyx, which developed what it calls the industry’s first comprehensive Whole-Genome-Sequencing (WGS) based diagnostic, effectively combining all genomic tests into one. Founded in 2014, Variantyx says its services are used by a global network of world-leading hospitals and diagnostic labs.

Dr. Ezekiel, who is joining Variantyx’s Board of Directors said: “This is a fascinating era for the healthcare market. We are witnessing incredible technological breakthroughs alongside the challenge to find cost-effective solutions for the soaring costs of healthcare. This creates outstanding opportunities for Pitango to further develop our healthcare portfolio to a point where it deserves its own dedicated fund.”

Harel said Pitango has extensive investment expertise in the healthcare and digital health sector with a strong portfolio including EarlySense, Magenta, Medisafe, Vertos, CyberMDX, and DouxMatok.

“Coupled with its unique network of global strategic partners, positions Pitango to be a unique player in the HealthTech investments world,” he said.

Pitango was founded in 1993 by Rami Kalish and Chemi Peres, son of the late Israeli statesman Shimon Peres. The firm says it has raised more than $2 billion in committed capital and has invested in over 200 companies, many of which have become publicly traded companies or were acquired by strategic players.