The raising of mini venture capital funds has swept Israeli high tech in 2012. Glilot Capital Partners yesterday announced the closing of financing at a time when large firms, such as Pitango Venture Capital, are finding it much more difficult to find anchor investors for a first closing.
In a statement, Glilot Capital said, "We have completed the raising of capital from foreign and Israeli investment institutions and private individuals, meeting the target in full." Glilot Capital will manage $30 million.
The firm said that it will invest in 12 Israeli start-ups, with an emphasis on early-stage companies in information security, software, and the Internet.
Glilot Capital's team is unusual, with interesting names which are not from the world of technology: Kobi Samboursky; Arik Kleinstein; Sallai Meridor, a former Ambassador to the US; Adv. Aaron Abramovich, who has served as director general at the Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and a former US deputy secretary of defense, Gordon England.
Glilot Capital has invested in three companies to date: anti-hacking company Light Cyber Ltd.; software marketing solutions developer Insightera Ltd.; and cloud data encryption developer Porticor Ltd.
Samboursky said, "We will only invest in companies we believe we can offer clear and present advantage."
Kleinstein added, "We are pleased that we succeeded in raising the fund in such difficult times. Over the past year, we've met hundreds of entrepreneurs and we were impressed by their professionalism and expertise."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on October 18, 2012
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