ISRAEL AT WAR
Emergency fund established to support struggling early-stage Israeli startups
The Safedome fund plans to invest amounts of up to half a million dollars in about 100 startups by the end of 2023 through a short application process
Hilla Haddad Chmelnik, former Director General of the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology, along with Ehud Schneorson, former commander of the IDF’s 8200 unit, and Itzik Parnafes, an Advisor at venture capital fund Battery Ventures, are establishing an emergency fund for Israeli startups. The fund, which will be called Safedomr, is intended for making small investments that will allow startups at the beginning of their journey to survive the upcoming period.
The investors in the fund are mainly angel investors from the U.S. and Israel. The fund plans to invest amounts of up to half a million dollars in about 100 startups by the end of 2023 through a short application process. The conditions for receiving the support include raising at least a quarter of a million dollars in the last two years and experiencing significant damage to the activity due to the war. Startups should have an activity horizon of up to six months and expenses that do not exceed $100,000 per month. Companies that meet these conditions will receive the money within weeks of their request.
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"It's a social investment, but it's also an investment that has a good chance of being profitable," said Itzik Parnafes. "Investors are essentially buying a sort of ETF of all the young companies in the Israeli high-tech sector, an investment area that has yielded a handsome return in recent years."
The initiative is carried out in collaboration with KPMG, Yoram Ravad's attorney's office, and the Moveo group, who have voluntarily joined the project.
