Israel venture fund JVP sets up new fund with $220m in investor commitments

Israeli venture capital fund Jerusalem Venture Partners said it has closed its latest fund, JVP VIII, with $220 million in commitments from investors.

This new fund aims to invest in early through mid-stage technologies at the intersection of computer vision with wellness, cybersecurity with fintech and insurtech, artificial intelligence with retail and media, and big data with healthcare.

The new fund has attracted investors from the US, France, Germany, Austria, Italy, the UK and Japan, JVP said in a statement Wednesday. They include US and European government sovereign funds, international insurance companies, endowments from universities and global corporations, all of which are interested in investing in Israel’s tech ecosystem as a source of innovation, the statement said.

“Over the next decade, we’re going to see up to fifty percent of the most well-known brands be surpassed and eventually displaced by a wave of disruptive companies –- many of which  are being launched today and in the near future,” said Erel Margalit, the founder and executive chairman of JVP.

Set up in 1993, JVP has raised to date $1.4 billion across nine funds (the seventh fund was actually split into two funds, bringing the total amount to nine) The VC fund has invested in over 130 startups, of which 12 have had initial public offerings on the Nasdaq. In October, JVP was selected by the city of New York to run the city’s first international cybersecurity hub.