Tel Aviv University Launches $20 Million Early Stage Venture Fund

Tel Aviv University is launching a venture capital fund for early stage startups called Tau Ventures, the university announced Sunday. The fund will manage $20 million, said one person familiar with the matter who spoke with Calcalist on conditions of anonymity.

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Over a seven-year period, the fund will make 8-10 new investments a year, that person said.

Limited partners in the fund include Chartered High Tech, an investment fund by Singapore-based asset management firm Chartered Investment Managers Pte Ltd., a subsidiary of PWM Japan Securities Co. Ltd., as well as additional unnamed investors in the U.S. and Canada, according to the university's announcement.

The news fund’s offices will also host portfolio company, and will be located near the university’s campus. The fund will also operate incubation programs in collaboration with international partners. The first such program launched in January in collaboration with Japanese information technology provider NEC Corporation. The unique advantage of the fund will be its access to the resources, students, alumni, and faculty of Tel Aviv University, Nimrod Cohen, a managing partner at Tau Ventures said in a statement.

The fund will help entrepreneurs develop their technologies and cater later stages help with more substantial funds when the company reaches advanced stages, Eyal Agmoni, a director at Chartered said in a statement.