Tel Aviv- The recent Israel-Hamas war and the subsequent callup of 15-20% of the tech workforce to reserves caused early-stage start-ups in Israel to face unprecedented challenges.
What can be done?
To address this need, Iron Nation, a volunteer emergency impact fund ensuring the continuity of early-stage Israeli start-ups, announced its launch a few days ago. The fund collects no management fee or carried interest and is aiming to raise 20M USD to support post-seed VC-backed startups impacted by the recent attack by Hamas and the ensuing war.
Iron Nation’s mission is to ensure that highly promising Israeli tech startups with established venture backing, a critical part of the tech ecosystem, can continue to grow during and after this crisis.
This initiative is backed by a team of exceptional volunteers from the venture community including Chemi Peres of Pitango Ventures, Charlie Federman of SilverTech Ventures, Danny Cohen of Viola Ventures, Moshe Lichtman of IGP Capital, Aaron Applbaum of MizMaa, and Calanit Valfer of the Elah Fund who joined the investment committee pro-bono.
Renowned New York-based venture capitalist Charlie Federman of Silvertech Ventures was among the first to join the Iron Nation investment committee. Supported by the Silverstein family, who rebuilt the World Trade Center that now is home to dozens of Israeli related tech companies through their accelerator and fund, Federman felt a particular calling to support Israeli startups in their time of need.
“In the wake of the 9/11 terror attack, we saw New York at its finest. Thousands stopped what they were doing and simply showed up to volunteer. Israel has just suffered its 9/11 and I am proud to join the ranks of those working to ensure that the Israeli tech industry bounces back to the booming center it was before October 7th,” Federman said.
Eligible startups can apply via Iron Nation’s website. Applications will be processed and vetted within two weeks by the investment committee. Iron Nation will actively amplify its investment with a dedicated investment-matching program of the Israel Innovation Authority, as well as the startups’ existing investors.
“Young startups that were primed for an exciting journey are facing unprecedented challenges. Young men and women have been forced to set aside their dreams as an act of duty to their country,” said Chemi Peres, Managing Partner of Pitango Ventures and Chairman of the Peres Centre for Peace and Innovation. “The investor community refuses to allow them to be another casualty of this war. Their widespread support speaks not only to the resilience of the tech ecosystem but to the belief that we can save a critical segment of the Israeli tech economy while creating a sustainable double-bottom line for investors.”
“We chose to focus our efforts to support this particular segment of the startup ecosystem because of the enormous potential they have shown, and we are committed to ensuring that they have the resources to reach that potential. We collect no management fees and no carried interest and our volunteer-based approach allows us to maximize the support we provide,” said Gil Friedlander, Co-founder of Iron Nation. “We are overwhelmed thus far by the spirit of collaboration and the commitment to drive the Israeli tech ecosystem forward not only in Israel but also abroad. The tech economy is critical to our nation and we encourage more to join us through investment, donation, or contribution.”
How to Get Involved
Iron Nation invites individuals, donors, organizations, and investors to join this noble cause. Contributions can be made through the official website at https://www.ironnation.org/
About Iron Nation
Iron Nation is an emergency impact fund ensuring the continuity of early-stage Israeli start-ups in the wake of the October 7th massacre. Iron Nation was co-founded by seasoned entrepreneurs Chen Linchevski,Gil Friedlander, and Jason Wolf and is a wholly volunteer-driven organization comprised of leading entrepreneurs and investors including Chemi Peres of Pitango, Charlie Federman of SilverTech Ventures, Danny Cohen of Viola Ventures, Aaron Applbaum of MizMaa, Calanit Valfer of the Elah Fund, Moshe Lichtman of IGP Capital, and others. The organization is also supported pro-bono by leading companies including Meitar, Start-Up Nation Central, InNegev, and others.
The Iron Nation fund utilizes general solicitation and is compliant with the requirements of US Securities Act Rule 506(c) and is open to US investors who qualify as “accredited investors”.
Iron Nation is also a 501(c)(3) organization and all donations are tax deductible.
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One Response
Israeli stocks appear to be recovering, suggesting that professional investors are less pessimistic about Israel’s future then they were a few weeks ago. It should be noted that winning a war is great advertising for a country. It also should be noted that entire world seems to be moving towards a world war (including Europe and East Asia, with full great power involvement), which will create good opportunities for a country whose primary economic engines are high tech and weapons manufacture (which are sort of merging). Setting up a non-profit “hedge fund” to invest in for-profit industries seems dubious, particularly if you are claiming this is tsadakkah.