The Israel Innovation Authority and Israel’s Ministry of Finance announced the launch of the Yozma Fund 2.0, a new program aimed at “encouraging investments by institutional entities in Israeli venture capital funds that support Israeli companies.”

The program’s budget amounts to approximately $160 million in state funds. These funds will be utilized to leverage investments of at least $700 million by institutional investors.

The fund targets institutional investors such as insurance companies, pension funds, and provident funds, providing them with a unique mechanism to enhance returns on their investments in Israeli venture capital funds over the next 20 months.

Notably, the program will operate without any direct intervention from the Innovation Authority, which will refrain from influencing the investment decisions of the institutions or the managers of venture capital funds, allowing them to invest according to their established investment policies.

Gila Gamliel, Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology said,: “This is a very significant move aimed at increasing the stability of the local venture capital market in the face of macroeconomic shocks and fluctuations, increasing funding in the early investment stages of Israeli startup companies, and subsequently establishing connections between institutions and the Israeli venture capital market. All of these are for the benefit of strengthening the Israeli high-tech sector and economy.”

The fund’s goal is to support Israeli high-tech companies, expand the interface between institutions and local venture capital funds as practiced in leading markets worldwide, and increase the stability of the local venture capital market against global and local macroeconomic shocks and fluctuations.

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