Pitango Venture Capital

About

Pitango Venture Capital is Israel’s largest and longest-standing venture capital fund, founded in 1993 by Rami Kalish under the original name Polaris Venture Capital ^{1 2}. The firm was established with backing from an Israeli government-sponsored program that offered tax incentives to foreign VC investments in Israel, with the government committing to match investments ². In 1996, Kalish was joined by Chemi Peres — son of former Israeli president Shimon Peres — to create Polaris Fund II, which raised more than $100 million ^{1 3}. In 2001, the firm changed its name to Pitango Venture Capital to avoid confusion with Boston-based Polaris Venture Partners; the name derives from the Surinam cherry (pitanga), a semi-wild fruit that grows in Israel ¹.

Pitango is headquartered in Herzliya, Israel, with additional offices in New York and Palo Alto ². The firm manages over $3 billion in assets across 14 funds and has invested in more than 300 companies since inception ^{4 5}. Over 100 portfolio companies have gone public on NASDAQ and NYSE or been acquired by strategic players including Google, Apple, IBM, and Cisco ^{5 6}.

The firm invests through three dedicated funds ⁴:

• Pitango First — seed and early-stage investments in disruptive technology, led by Eyal Niv and Ayal Itzkovitz ^{7 8}
• Pitango Growth — growth-stage investments, led by Isaac Hillel and Aaron Mankovski ⁹
• Pitango HealthTech — multi-stage healthcare and life sciences investments, led by Ittai Harel and Hila Karah ¹⁰

In 2020, Pitango raised a $750 million vintage, making it the largest venture group in Israel at the time, including a $250 million second growth fund ^{1 11}. In November 2025, the firm closed $300 million across two new early-stage funds — $150 million each for Pitango First and Pitango HealthTech ^{7 12}. In 2010, Pitango established Israel’s first dedicated fund for Arab-Israeli investments ².

Stated Thesis

Pitango publicly describes its approach as investing in “revolutionary technology and new companies” at their earliest stages, emphasizing founder quality above all other criteria ^{4 8}. The firm states it invests across deep technology fields including generative AI, quantum computing, cybersecurity, cloud computing, DevOps, enterprise infrastructure, fintech, TransitTech, digital health, medical devices, and biotechnology ⁴.

Managing Partner Eyal Niv has stated: “We back founders who deeply understand their customers and their specific markets” and “We look for AI nativity, how they use AI to build the Company and their own products” ¹³. Niv has also said “Israel can own anything it wants” in AI, noting that “Israel is active across the entire AI stack, from the underlying infrastructure to the applications layer” ¹³.

On the HealthTech side, Managing Partner Ittai Harel has described the firm’s focus as investing at “the convergence of life science and medical technologies with data science and AI” ^{10 14}. He has stated: “The medical sector is adopting AI faster than most industries precisely because of its complexity” ⁷ and “The number one quality Pitango is looking for in startups is the quality of the founding team and their dedication to their mission” ¹⁴.

Co-founder Chemi Peres has articulated a philosophy centered on people: “The lesson learned is that you really need to focus on great entrepreneurs, with first and foremost being the people you invest in. Any business plan presented will change route because the world is changing, so you need somebody who can adapt to changes, be a leader, and attract the right investors” ³.

Inferred Thesis

Based on 73 active portfolio companies and 65 exited companies (20 IPOs, 45+ acquisitions) listed on Pitango’s portfolio page ¹⁵, the following patterns emerge:

Sector distribution (73 active portfolio companies): - Healthcare (digital health + medical devices + biopharma/bioconvergence): 22 of 73 (30%) — Laguna Health, QuantHealth, Variantyx, Visby Medical, Restore Medical, Altesa Biosciences, Surge Therapeutics, Lumen, Connie Health, Medisafe, CareFam, Guardoc Health, Cellular Intelligence, LeaFix Medical, OpenEyes, Protai, Oshi, Knostic, HomeThrive, CarboFix, Optimal+, Vertos Medical - Cybersecurity: 6 of 73 (8%) — Nexite, Armo, Perception Point, CyberMDX, Skycure, Sansa Security - DevOps / developer tools: 6 of 73 (8%) — Frontegg, Komodor, Swimm, Mend, Logz.io, ParallelM - Cloud & infrastructure: 5 of 73 (7%) — Finout, Volumez, Speedata, Silk, Iguazio - Fintech & insurtech: 5 of 73 (7%) — Teza, Zorro, PayEm, Scorpio, Venn - Media & gaming: 5 of 73 (7%) — Stream Elements, Nas.io, Browsi, Applicaster, LiveU - Generative AI: 4 of 73 (5%) — AAI Technologies, AI21 Labs, D-ID, Graphcore - Industry 4.0 / manufacturing: 4 of 73 (5%) — Tulip Interfaces, Aquant, Salvador Technologies, Ventor Technologies - Quantum computing: 3 of 73 (4%) — Quantum Source, PsiQuantum, Zapata Computing - Mobility & smart city: 3 of 73 (4%) — Via, Optibus, Foursquare - Sales & marketing: 3 of 73 (4%) — Totango, Neura, AppsFlyer - Retail & e-commerce: 3 of 73 (4%) — Tabit, Duda, Incredo - Climatech: 2 of 73 (3%) — Tomorrow.io, Jinko Solar - Other (edtech, foodtech, legaltech, proptech): 5 of 73 (7%) — Masterschool, UniPaaS, Avantis Team, Tylko, Logz.io

Key finding: Healthcare is the single largest sector at 30% of active portfolio, significantly larger than any other individual category. Combined enterprise technology (cyber + DevOps + cloud + AI + quantum) accounts for 32% (23 of 73). The portfolio is genuinely diversified across many sectors, though healthcare and enterprise tech together represent 62% of active investments.

Stage distribution: The three-fund structure maps to stage focus. Pitango First invests at seed and early stage; Pitango Growth invests at Series A through growth; Pitango HealthTech invests across all stages in healthcare ^{8 9 10}. The HealthTech fund’s most recent vintage targets initial checks of $2–7 million at seed and $8–15 million at later stages, with a plan to invest in approximately 15 startups over three years ¹⁶.

Geographic concentration: The portfolio is overwhelmingly Israel-connected. Most portfolio companies are founded in Israel, though many operate globally with US headquarters. Chemi Peres has stated the firm invests “not only in Israel, but in Israelis” — including the estimated 1.2 million Israelis living abroad in Silicon Valley and New York ³.

Exit patterns (IPOs): 20 IPOs listed on the portfolio page, with notable public companies including Varonis (cybersecurity), Riskified (fintech), Taboola (media/advertising), ForeScout (cybersecurity), Radware (cybersecurity), and AudioCodes (telecommunications) ¹⁵. Among exits, cybersecurity and enterprise technology dominate: 6 of 20 IPOs were in cybersecurity/networking.

Co-investor patterns: Based on portfolio overlap and press reports, frequent co-investors include Bessemer Venture Partners (DriveNets, other enterprise deals), Sequoia, Accel, and various Israeli VCs ¹⁷.

Notable gap vs. stated thesis: Despite increasing emphasis on generative AI in public statements, only 4 of 73 active portfolio companies (5%) are categorized as generative AI. The firm’s actual strength is healthcare (30%) and cybersecurity/enterprise infrastructure (combined ~25%), which are less prominently featured in recent marketing than AI and quantum. However, AI is clearly an emerging emphasis in the most recent fund vintage.

Portfolio

This table represents approximately 67 of 300+ total investments (~22%). Portfolio data sourced from Pitango’s website portfolio page and press coverage. Many earlier-vintage and stealth-mode investments are not publicly listed.

In Their Own Words

“The lesson learned is that you really need to focus on great entrepreneurs, with first and foremost being the people you invest in. Any business plan presented will change route because the world is changing, so you need somebody who can adapt to changes, be a leader, and attract the right investors.” — Chemi Peres, Managing Partner & Co-Founder, Knowledge at Wharton interview ³

“There are no desperate situations, only desperate people.” — Chemi Peres, quoting his father Shimon Peres as a guiding principle for Pitango’s approach, Knowledge at Wharton interview ³

“A start-up company depends on venture money and angels. At some point in time, they need to start depending on customers.” — Chemi Peres, Knowledge at Wharton interview ²²

“We back founders who deeply understand their customers and their specific markets. Founders who are focused, customer-driven, and relentless will find a way.” — Eyal Niv, Managing Partner (First), Calcalist interview ¹³

“We look for AI nativity, how they use AI to build the Company and their own products. The key differentiator for AI startups nowadays is access to unique datasets. The infrastructure or the technology itself is not the moat.” — Eyal Niv, Managing Partner (First), Calcalist interview ¹³

“AI has totally changed the way we think and invest in startups.” — Eyal Niv, Managing Partner (First), Calcalist interview ¹³

“The medical sector is adopting AI faster than most industries precisely because of its complexity. This presents a tremendous opportunity.” — Ittai Harel, Managing Partner (HealthTech), Calcalist interview ⁷

“We have a broad healthcare view, and invest in digital health and tech-enabled healthcare service companies. Our major focus is the use and integration of AI in healthcare, which we see as only at its infancy.” — Ittai Harel, Managing Partner (HealthTech), MedCity News interview ¹⁴

“The number one quality Pitango is looking for in startups is the quality of the founding team and their dedication to their mission.” — Ittai Harel, Managing Partner (HealthTech), MedCity News interview ¹⁴

“Even during this period of global turmoil, with a long-term view, it is possible to build leading growth companies in Israel. Pitango continues to invest in all stages and in all areas even these days.” — Pitango statement on $250M Growth Fund closing, March 2020 ¹¹

What Founders Say

“Pitango came on board during a critical period, leading our Series A round in 2014. They saw the long-term potential in what we were building and shared our vision. Their support was and continues to be instrumental in helping us grow, and the relationship I share with Isaac Hillel is very special to this day.” — Oren Kaniel, CEO & Co-Founder, AppsFlyer, Pitango Founder Story ¹⁹

“Make calls, speak to their portfolio companies and understand their approach. Look beyond the funding — find partners who align with your values and vision.” — Oren Kaniel, CEO & Co-Founder, AppsFlyer, on choosing Pitango as an investor, Pitango Founder Story ¹⁹

“From day one Eyal Niv, Chemi Peres and Rami Kalish of Pitango were among the first to realize there was something big going on here. And Pitango has been a part of what we’ve been building ever since.” — Ori Goshen, Co-Founder & Co-CEO, AI21 Labs, Pitango Founder Story ¹⁸

“Pitango has shown a lot of trust in our team and fully supports our ‘dream big,’ forward-looking mentality. Our relationship is more than an investment deal; it’s a deep partnership that AI21 can rely on no matter what entrepreneurial challenges come our way. It’s a relationship we are very fortunate to have.” — Ori Goshen, Co-Founder & Co-CEO, AI21 Labs, Pitango Founder Story ¹⁸

“Pitango became one of the first seed-round investors and a close advisor, with phenomenal wisdom and intuition regarding business strategy, marketing and more.” — founder testimonial from Pitango website ⁴

Note: The founder quotes above from AppsFlyer and AI21 Labs are sourced from Pitango’s own website founder story series. No independently sourced founder testimonials from third-party publications were found during this research pass.

Sources