Israel-based investment company Pitango Venture Capital recently closed a funding round wherein it had raised USD270 million. The company was behind Boxee, which was acquired by Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, and Anobit, which was acquired by Apple Inc. Pitango would be using the funds from the recently closed funding round to support companies in Israel and companies with connections or links to Isral, according to co-founder and managing general partner Chemi Peres.
Peres saw the investments placed by mostly Asian investors an evolution on investment strategies. "We certainly see a growing interest from Asia in Israel that is reflected in more private groups investing in VCs, companies, making acquisitions and building R&D centers," he tells me. "The collaboration model is becoming more westward than before, and we see less interest in creating joint ventures."
The fund was oversubscribed from its initial target of USD250 million. The fund also saw participation from investors from India, China, Korea, Singapore, Japan and Taiwan.
Pitango said that it had already started investing in companies out from the funds. It had already backed startups Magenta Medical, Taboola, SalesPredict, Revizer and Ubimo, among others.
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