Yozma

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 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