Pitango Looking to Raise $150 Million Health Tech Fund

Israel-based Pitango Venture Capital announced Thursday the launch of its first health tech fund, aiming to raise $150 million. Pitango also announced the new fund has led a first $7 million investment in Massachusetts-based whole genome sequencing startup Variantyx Inc. Variantyx was founded in 2014 by Israeli entrepreneurs and scientists Haim Neerman, Tomer Jackman, and Noam Shomron as a joint venture with the Sackler School of Medicine of Tel Aviv University.

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Pitango’s new fund will focus on companies in the domains of digital health, Health information technology (HIT), and med tech, with a possible outlook into diagnostics, biopharma, foodtech, and agtech.

Pitango managing partners Ittai Harel and Guy Ezekiel. Photo: Yoram Reshef

Founded in 1993 and based in Herzliya, a town in the Tel Aviv area, Pitango has more than $2 billion in assets under management. Pitango’s portfolio companies include ridesharing company Via Transportation Inc. and Nasdaq-listed cybersecurity firm ForeScout Technologies Inc.

Among the health tech companies Pitango previously invested in are drug compliance app developer Medisafe Project Ltd., heart trans-catheter valve replacement technologies company Medtronic Ventor Technologies Ltd., acquired by New York-listed medical technology company Medtronic PLC in 2009 for $325 million, and patient information company dbMotion Ltd., acquired by Nasdaq-listed Allscripts Healthcare Solutions, Inc. for $235 million in 2013.