Insight Partners in Negotiations for Senior Israeli Venture Fund Gemini V

New York-based venture capital and private equity firm Insight Partners is in advanced negotiations to acquire the fifth fund of Israeli venture firm Gemini Israel Ventures, one person familiar with the deal told Calcalist on condition of anonymity. The deal is valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars, and could go as high as $500 million, that person said.

Insight declined Calcalist’s request for comment.

This is one in a string of local deals, both completed and nearing closure, linked to Insight Partners. On Wednesday, Calcalist reported that the venture fund was in advanced negotiations for a stake in Israeli gaming company Moon Active Ltd. according to a company valuation of approximately $1.2 billion, citing one source. On Tuesday, Insight Partners announced its $1.1 billion acquisition of another Israeli company, IoT security startup Armis Inc., confirming an earlier report by Calcalist.

In February 2019, Insight Partners bought the lion’s share of the portfolio of Israeli venture capital firm Genesis Partners’ fourth fund for an undisclosed sum. At the time, Jeff Horing, co-founder and managing director of Insight, said the acquisition indicated the firm’s commitment to regional innovation in Israel. Genesis Partners’ portfolio included several startups that were already backed by Insight, among them team management companyMonday.com Labs Ltd., business intelligence startup Sisense Ltd., and music education startup JoyTunes Ltd.

Gemini is one of Israel’s most senior venture firms, active since 1993. The firm has raised five funds to date, the last one raised $150 million in 2008. In 2014 Gemini announced it will not raise additional funds, instead concentrating on maintaining its existing portfolio.

Gemini V’s portfolio includes website usability company WalkMe Inc., which completed a $90 million funding round last month; code management startup JFrog Ltd., which was valued at $1.5 billion in October 2019; Autotalks Ltd., a developer of vehicle-to-vehicle communications chips; and public transportation trip-planning app developer Moovit App Global Ltd.

In October, Insight Partners announced the opening of a Tel Aviv office, the firm’s first office outside of New York. Insight Partners has over $20 billion in assets under management and has backed more than 300 companies worldwide, according to company statements. In Israel, Insight has invested over $700 million across more than 15 active deals.