Wikipedia

Pitango

Pitango VC, established in 1993, is Israel’s largest and longest standing venture capital fund with over US$3 billion under management as of 2025, with a recent vintage in 2020 of US$750M making it the largest venture group in Israel.[1]

Pitango VC
Company typePrivate
IndustryVenture capital
Founded1993; 32 years ago (1993)
FounderRami Kalish and Chemi Peres
Headquarters
Tel Aviv
,
Israel
AUMUSD $3 billion
Number of employees
~40
Websitewww.pitango.com

Headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel (Sarona) Pitango has raised 14 venture funds, invested in more than 300 companies and accomplished over 90 companies becoming publicly traded in NASDAQ and NYSE or acquired by strategic players such as Google, Apple, IBM, Cisco. Investors are institutional and strategic investors from the US, Europe, Japan, and SouthEast Asia and have included Time Warner, Citigroup, Eastman Kodak, Deutsche Bank and HarbourVest Partners.[2]

Pitango VC invests through three dedicated funds, Pitango First (early-stage investments),[3] Pitango HealthTech (HealthTech investments),[4] and Pitango Growth (growth investments).[5]

Notable successful investments made by the firm include Via Transportation, DriveNets, AppsFlyer, Forescout, and Varonis.

Domains of investment

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Pitango invests in a wide range of technology and innovation-driven sectors. These include deep technology fields such as generative artificial intelligence (AI),[6] quantum computing,[7] and cybersecurity,[8] as well as infrastructure-focused areas like cloud computing, DevOps,[9] and enterprise infrastructure. Pitango is also active in financial technology (FinTech) and TransitTech, reflecting its interest in modernizing financial services and urban mobility solutions. In the healthcare sector,[10] Pitango supports ventures in digital health, medical devices, and biotechnology. Additionally, the firm invests in companies operating in sales and marketing technologies, as well as retail and eCommerce platforms.

History

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The fund was founded as Polaris Venture Capital in 1993 by Rami Kalish. 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. Polaris II invested in 35 high-tech companies.[11]

In 2001, Polaris Venture Capital changed its name to Pitango Venture Capital to avoid confusion with Boston-based Polaris Venture Partners.[12] Although the Boston firm was founded in 1996, which was after Pitango was founded, the Israeli firm decided to change its name. Pitango takes its name from the semi-wild Surinam Cherry that grows in Israel.

Since then, the company has grown to include 14 partners, a value-add team, an operations and support team, and venture partners.

Notable companies

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Notable exits and IPOs

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Company Industry Description Initial Investment Date Exit/IPO
Taboola Advertising Tech Content recommendation platform 2011 IPO on NASDAQ in 2021.[13]
Riskified E-Commerce / SaaS Fraud prevention platform using ML-powered chargeback guarantee 2017 IPO on NYSE in 2021.[14]
Vertos Medical Medical devices Minimally invasive lumbar spinal stenosis treatment 2013 Acquired by Stryker Corporation in 2024.[15]
Skycure Ltd Mobile cybersecurity (MTD) Mobile Threat Defense platform based on AI/ML 2017 Acquired by Symantec in July 2017.[16]
Forescout Cybersecurity Agentless IoT and enterprise device visibility & control platform 2001 IPO on NASDAQ in 2017.[17]
Varonis Systems Data Security / SaaS Data security platform analyzing unstructured enterprise data (UBA) 2014 IPO on NASDAQ in 2014.[18]
Anobit Semiconductors flash memory controllers 2006 Acquired by Apple Inc. in 2012 for a reported $390 million.[19]
Traiana Software Post-trade processing, client servicing, and trading partner integration for financial institutions 2004 Acquired by ICAP in 2007 for $247 million.[20]
InstallFree Software Application virtualization technology 2006 In December 2012, WatchDox Acquired InstallFree.[21]
ClearForest Software Brokerage compliance, anti-money laundering, and fraud prevention 2001 Acquired by Reuters in 2007 for $25 Million.[22]
Radcom Ltd Communications Networking Infrastructure Equipment 1993 IPO on NASDAQ in 1997.
Boxee Consumer electronics 2007 Acquired by Samsung Electronics in 2013 for $30 million.[23]
Check, Inc. Mobile Mobile Applications 2007 Acquired by Intuit in 2014 for $360 million.[24]
AeroScout Industrial Communications RFID 2000 Acquired by Stanley Black & Decker in 2012.[25]
BioLineRx Biotechnology 2003 IPO on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.[26][27]
dbMotion Software Health technology interoperability 2005 Acquired by Allscripts in 2013 for $235 million.[28]
Mainsoft Software Network virtualization for software testing 1993
VocalTec Telecommunication VocalTec released the first Voice over Internet Protocol application 1993 IPO on NASDAQ 1996
Red Bend Software Software Mobile software management 2000 Acquired by Harman International Industries in 2015.[29]
Radware Communications Advertising Data 1997 IPO on NASDAQ 1999
EarlySense Medical Technology Medical device company 2004 IP acquired by Hillrom in 2021 for $30 million plus revenue share.[30]

References

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  1. ^ "Top Israeli VC Pitango launches investment DAO, to issue token". The Block. Retrieved 2025-07-10.
  2. ^ Blum, Ruthie (2013-10-08). "Chemi Peres: 'Startups are not for pessimists'". ISRAEL21c. Retrieved 2025-07-10.
  3. ^ ""Anytime we're threatened, we become more Israeli"". ctech. 2024-03-26. Retrieved 2025-07-10.
  4. ^ "Pitango HealthTech II announces first closing of $175m fund". Globes. 2023-06-09. Retrieved 2025-07-10.
  5. ^ "Guardians of innovation: The rise of Israel's civilian defense-tech". ctech. 2024-04-23. Retrieved 2025-07-10.
  6. ^ "Calibrate bigger: Rapidly adapting to a paradigm shift in tech investment". ctech. 2025-05-28. Retrieved 2025-07-10.
  7. ^ "Photonic quantum computer co Quantum Source raises $50m". Globes. 2024-10-09. Retrieved 2025-07-10.
  8. ^ "Pitango sells Forescout shares for $46m". Globes. 2019-02-18. Retrieved 2025-07-10.
  9. ^ "Cloud observability co Logz.io raises $23m". Globes. 2020-11-24. Retrieved 2025-07-10.
  10. ^ "Israeli co Restore Medical raises $23m". Globes. 2025-07-07. Retrieved 2025-07-10.
  11. ^ "Polaris Sets Up $15 Mln General Managers Fund - Globes". en.globes.co.il. 2000-05-22. Retrieved 2025-07-10.
  12. ^ גלובס, שירות (2001-07-10). "קרן הון הסיכון פולריס משנה את שמה לפיטנגו ונצ'ר קפיטל". Globes. Retrieved 2025-07-10.
  13. ^ Curry, Rachel. "What to know about the 2021 Taboola IPO | Public.com". Public. Retrieved 2025-07-28.
  14. ^ "Riskified underwriters exercise $55.1m in options". Globes. 2021-04-08. Retrieved 2025-07-28.
  15. ^ Whooley, Sean (2024-10-01). "Stryker completes acquisition of Vertos Medical". MassDevice. Retrieved 2025-07-28.
  16. ^ "Symantec buys mobile security co Skycure". Globes. 2017-11-07. Retrieved 2025-07-28.
  17. ^ "ForeScout Technologies prices its initial public offering at $22 per share". Reuters. 2017-10-27. Retrieved 2025-07-28.
  18. ^ "Varonis files for $91m Nasdaq IPO - Globes". en.globes.co.il. 2014-02-19. Retrieved 2025-07-28.
  19. ^ Solomon, Shoshanna; Ferziger, Jonathan; Barden, Andrew J.; Maedler, Claudia (January 12, 2012). "Apple Said to Acquire Israel's Anobit Technologies for About $390 Million". Bloomberg. Retrieved February 5, 2012.
  20. ^ "ICAP acquires Israeli post-trade software firm Traiana". ITPro. 11 Oct 2007.
  21. ^ "WatchDox Acquires InstallFree to Provide Secure Document Viewing, Editing on Any Platform". www.businesswire.com. 2012-12-11. Retrieved 2021-03-12.
  22. ^ Eric Auchard (30 April 2007). "Reuters to acquire text search firm ClearForest". Reuters. Retrieved September 1, 2010.
  23. ^ Chen, Brian X. (3 July 2013). "Samsung Electronics Acquires Boxee, a Video Start-Up". The New York Times.
  24. ^ "Intuit agreed to purchase Check for $360 million". The Wall Street Journal.
  25. ^ "AeroScout, Stanley and Black & Decker Complete Merger" (Press release). AeroScout Industrial. June 5, 2012. Archived from the original on June 9, 2012. Retrieved June 5, 2012.
  26. ^ Cohen, Omri (7 February 2007). "Biotech comes of age: Bioline floats at half-billion shekel market cap". TheMarker. Retrieved 28 November 2011. Bioline Therapeutics today pulled off its initial public offering in Tel Aviv, raising NIS 211 million at a company valuation of NIS 494 million, making this the biggest flotation by a biotechnology company in local history.
  27. ^ Rheinheimer, Laura (8 February 2007). "BioLineRx raises $50m. in TASE's largest biomedical IPO". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 28 November 2011. BioLineRx Ltd. on Wednesday priced the largest ever initial public offering of a biomedical company on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, raising a total of NIS 211 million, or $50m.
  28. ^ Allscripts Healthcare Solutions is acquiring Israeli healthcare software provider dbMotion for $235 million, Reuters, Mar 5, 2013
  29. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2016-09-13.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  30. ^ Pennic, Fred (2021-02-01). "EarlySense Sells Contact-Free Monitoring IP to Hilrom for $30M". hitconsultant.net. Retrieved 2021-05-28.
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