Israel is rich in technological breakthroughs, and yet local companies still face significant technological and business challenges on the way to market. This is where the Israel Innovation Authority’s Startup Fund comes in. The fund is intended to support the establishment and financing of venture capital rounds for deep tech companies at every stage – from concept ideation to growth – in sync with market dynamics.
The fund invests, alongside private investors, in companies operating in fields that rely on technological depth and long time-to-market, especially at stages where the market struggles to absorb the entire risk. Its activity is pursued through three program channels, each aligned with different levels of companies’ maturity and the accepted market fundraising rounds:
- The Pre-Seed Program was created to encourage the germination of companies operating in high-risk, R&D intensive areas, from their earliest phases of operation. The Startup Fund enables these companies to commence development, demonstrate technological and economic feasibility, and conduct market validation.
- The Seed Program, in which the fund invests in companies that have already achieved initial technological and economic progress and which need support to move closer to market.
- The Round A Program is aimed at ensuring global growth for active companies that have already demonstrated significant market validation, are completing product development, and are advancing their business and marketing operations.
The Startup Fund’s activity sends a clear signal to investors: there is technology here that we believe is worth investing in, and it works. Companies receiving support from the Fund have completed significant funding rounds, successfully entered new markets, and retained operations in Israel. Their success is not solely due to a grant, but rather due to precise financial partnership that understands the challenges inherent in transitioning from the development stage to market entry and works to overcome obstacles in real time.
The Startup Fund is not merely a support program. It is a policy tool designed to generate real change in the technology sector: to understand events on the ground, respond at the right pace, and continue operating even when the capital market is characterized by caution.
This magazine presents several cases of real success – companies that progressed thanks to the right combination of entrepreneurship, investors, and state capital that arrived at precisely the right moment.