Israel Secondary Fund (ISF) has completed the closing of ISF II, a $100 million secondary fund. According to the ISF, investors in ISF II include Israeli and global institutional investors, family offices, and high net worth investors. Institutional investors in the fund include Halman Aldubi, Altshuler Shaham, Bank Hapoalim (TASE: POLI), IBI (TASE: IBI) and Union Bank of Israel (TASE: UNON). ISF II has already completed four investments from the new fund.
ISF is a secondary fund focused on the hot Israeli early stage market, which provides liquidity to the private equity and venture capital market through purchasing interests in funds and direct holdings in private companies. The Secondary Fund, has been active in the Israeli secondary market since 2001.
According to management, ISF has raised ISF II following the success of their inaugural fund, ISF I, which was founded in 2009. ISF I held direct and indirect stakes in more than 100 private companies that have generated 35 exits.
The first fund included direct and indirect exits of Waze Ltd. by Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG), the IPO of SolarEdge Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: SEDG) and the acquisition of SuperDimension by Covidien Ltd. (NYSE: COV).
“Over $30 billion have been invested in Israeli funds and technology companies in the last decade. A large portion of today’s companies stay private for longer periods, and build significant business activity before going public or being acquired,” said Dror Glass, Managing Partner of ISF. “Therefore, there is a growing need by entrepreneurs and investors for liquidity in the years preceding an exit. ISF aims to become the preferred liquidity provider for entrepreneurs, executives and investors in Israel and to be a long-term financial partner for the companies and funds in which ISF invests.”