Yozma, Yozma Program, or Yozma Fund was a venture capital organization in Israel that initially started out as a government funded program in 1993 to help kick start venture capital, angel investing, and private equity in Israel's economy. $20 million of government subsidies went to the Yozma Fund, the other $80 million the government provided went to match other foreign and domestic firms, at 40%, to create their own venture capital funds in Israel. The VC companies could buy back the government's equity stake over a 5-year period, and most did. The Yozma Fund privatized in 1997 and became the Yozma Group.
Background
Inbal is a government owned insurance company that underwrote and guaranteed up to 70% of losses for venture capital firms from 1992-1998. The Israeli Government helped start and fund business incubators and an R&D cluster during the 1990s. Many immigrants came to Israel during the fall of the soviet union in the 1990s post-Soviet aliyah and about ⅓ of them were skilled enigineers and scientists.
Yozma funds + Yozma Initial Funds Name Est. Capital Foreign LP LP Country Portfolio Exits Exit RateEurofund 1994 $20M Daimler-Benz, DEG Germany 14 7 50%Gemini 1993 $36M Advent Venture Partners USA 25 13 52%Inventech 1993 $20M Van Leer Group Netherlands 33 16 48%Jerusalem Venture Partners 1993 $20M Oxton USA 12 10 83%Medica 1995 $15M MVP USA 10 5 50%Nitzanim 1994 $20M AVX, Kyocera Japan, Japan 13 7 54%Polaris (Pitango) 1993 $20M CMS USA 19 13 68%Star 1993 $20M TVM, Siemens Germany 27 15 56%Vertex Holdings 1996 $39M Vertex Int., Singapore tech USA, Singapore 29 16 55%Walden 1993 $33M Walden International USA 21 10 48%Yozma 1993 $20M None Israel 16 10 63% Total$263M21712256%
Yozma 2.0 In 2024, the Israel Innovation Authority has launched a Yozma 2.0 with government funds of $155 million, looking to raise $700 million from private institutional venture capital investors, at a 30% match.
Hebrew translation Yozma translates from Hebrew to English as initiative.
See also Genesis Partners Infinity Group List of Israeli inventions and discoveries List of venture capital firms Economic dynamism Economy of Israel Start-up Nation Science and technology in Israel CPP Investments - Canadian Pension Plan Venture Capital Action Plan - Canada Baltimore Development Corporation Texas Emerging Technology Fund Investment banking Public–private partnership Silicon Wadi
References
Venture Capital Policies in Israel