Hetz Ventures closes second fund of $77 million
Hetz Ventures, which was founded in 2018, has quickly established itself as the preferred fund of Israeli entrepreneurs with seed-stage deep-tech startups
Ami Rojkes Dombe
| 21/09/2020
Photo: Yossi Masa
Hetz Ventures, a venture capital fund for early-stage investments, announced last week the close of its second flagship fund, oversubscribed at $77 million. The fund, which was fully raised during the COVID-19 crisis, had its first close in April and final close in July.
With the close of Fund II, Hetz will manage a total of over $130 million. The firm closed Fund I of $55 million in February 2018 and, by leveraging its wide network of Israeli entrepreneurs and international enterprises, has since invested in 10 companies in various fields including cloud computing and cybersecurity.
Hetz Ventures, founded in 2018, has quickly established itself as the preferred fund of Israeli entrepreneurs with seed-stage deep-tech startups that deal with the fields of technology for enterprises, DevOps, cybersecurity, cloud computing, and fintech. While over 90% of Fund II contributors are experienced international investors, it has also attracted investment from founders of its portfolio companies from Fund I who have invested back into Fund II, along with local entrepreneurs who successfully sold a number of companies in the past.
"We founded Hetz just under three years ago with the goal of investing in companies that are building deep, defensible technologies and have disruptive business models. In the COVID-19-impacted business world, such technologies have become paramount. We partner with companies that fill real gaps in the market," said Judah Taub, Managing Partner, Hetz Ventures.
"Our extensive international network exponentially accelerates our portfolio companies' success abroad. To date, all our companies have greatly leveraged this growing network in different ways, primarily in finding international design partners and first customers. We're excited about the opportunities this new fund will allow us to invest in. Additionally, it is an indication of confidence in our approach that so many of investors from Fund I have invested once again in Fund II, and that many of the founders we have backed previously now wanted to become investors in Fund II."
Hetz Ventures relies on thesis-driven investment and employs a proactive top-down approach. Also, Hetz is typically the first money invested. From first meeting with a founder to investing in their company, it typically takes the firm four weeks or less, during which the problem and the market opportunity are presented, and later, the solution, the competition, and potential customers are analyzed through a thorough and transparent process.
Hetz Ventures has already invested in two companies through Fund II. With Fund I, Hetz invested in 10 companies including Trigo, an AI and computer vision-powered provider of frictionless shopping experience; Granulate, an Israel-based company that optimizes cloud infrastructures and workload performance in real-time; Codota, a startup developing a platform that suggests and autocompletes Python, C, HTML, Java, Scala, Kotlin, and JavaScript code; and Anima which creates high-fidelity prototypes in XD, Sketch or Figma and export to various programming languages such as Sketch and HTML. Hetz Ventures' portfolio also includes companies such as Infinipoint, DeepChecks, MarketBeyond, Jones, and Acumen.
Hetz Ventures, which was founded in 2018, has quickly established itself as the preferred fund of Israeli entrepreneurs with seed-stage deep-tech startups
Photo: Yossi Masa
Hetz Ventures, a venture capital fund for early-stage investments, announced last week the close of its second flagship fund, oversubscribed at $77 million. The fund, which was fully raised during the COVID-19 crisis, had its first close in April and final close in July.
With the close of Fund II, Hetz will manage a total of over $130 million. The firm closed Fund I of $55 million in February 2018 and, by leveraging its wide network of Israeli entrepreneurs and international enterprises, has since invested in 10 companies in various fields including cloud computing and cybersecurity.
Hetz Ventures, founded in 2018, has quickly established itself as the preferred fund of Israeli entrepreneurs with seed-stage deep-tech startups that deal with the fields of technology for enterprises, DevOps, cybersecurity, cloud computing, and fintech. While over 90% of Fund II contributors are experienced international investors, it has also attracted investment from founders of its portfolio companies from Fund I who have invested back into Fund II, along with local entrepreneurs who successfully sold a number of companies in the past.
"We founded Hetz just under three years ago with the goal of investing in companies that are building deep, defensible technologies and have disruptive business models. In the COVID-19-impacted business world, such technologies have become paramount. We partner with companies that fill real gaps in the market," said Judah Taub, Managing Partner, Hetz Ventures.
"Our extensive international network exponentially accelerates our portfolio companies' success abroad. To date, all our companies have greatly leveraged this growing network in different ways, primarily in finding international design partners and first customers. We're excited about the opportunities this new fund will allow us to invest in. Additionally, it is an indication of confidence in our approach that so many of investors from Fund I have invested once again in Fund II, and that many of the founders we have backed previously now wanted to become investors in Fund II."
Hetz Ventures relies on thesis-driven investment and employs a proactive top-down approach. Also, Hetz is typically the first money invested. From first meeting with a founder to investing in their company, it typically takes the firm four weeks or less, during which the problem and the market opportunity are presented, and later, the solution, the competition, and potential customers are analyzed through a thorough and transparent process.
Hetz Ventures has already invested in two companies through Fund II. With Fund I, Hetz invested in 10 companies including Trigo, an AI and computer vision-powered provider of frictionless shopping experience; Granulate, an Israel-based company that optimizes cloud infrastructures and workload performance in real-time; Codota, a startup developing a platform that suggests and autocompletes Python, C, HTML, Java, Scala, Kotlin, and JavaScript code; and Anima which creates high-fidelity prototypes in XD, Sketch or Figma and export to various programming languages such as Sketch and HTML. Hetz Ventures' portfolio also includes companies such as Infinipoint, DeepChecks, MarketBeyond, Jones, and Acumen.
