Silicon Valley venture capital firm Benchmark Capital, whose investment portfolio includes the likes of eBay and Red
Hat has set its sites on a new target: Israel.
The company is setting up a $200 million fund to make early-stage investments in high-tech firms in Israel at early stage
and seed level. The investee companies will have an American orientation and will be prepared for Initial Public
Offerings in the US. The Benchmark Israel Fund will also cooperate with the Benchmark Europe vc fund established
earlier this year.
The three managers of the fund are Mark Kremer; Arad Naveh, former M&A director at Scitex and
Nahman Shelef, former 3Com v-p business development.
Bechmark was founded in 1995 and is based in Menlo Park, Calif. It manages more than $2.0 billion in committed
venture capital.