aMoon raises $660m for second health fund, becomes Israel's largest

The fund, launched in April 2018 targeting $500m. in commitments, will invest in mid-to-late stage biopharmaceutical, medical device and digital health companies. Two-thirds will be invested domestically.

By EYTAN HALON
Marius Nacht (L) and Yair Schindel (R) (photo credit: AMOON)
Marius Nacht (L) and Yair Schindel (R)
(photo credit: AMOON)
Ra’anana-based healthcare and life sciences innovation venture-capital firm aMoon has raised $660 million in commitments for its second fund, aMoon II, it announced on Wednesday, making it the largest single VC fund in the country.
The fund, launched in April 2018 targeting $500m. in commitments, will invest in mid-to-late stage biopharmaceutical, medical device and digital health companies. Two-thirds will be invested domestically.
To date, aMoon II has invested in four Israeli companies and a fifth in Silicon Valley, also founded by an Israeli.
“We plan to leverage Israel’s ecosystem of breakthrough science and disruptive tech innovation to accelerate cure and reshape global healthcare,” said Dr. Yair Schindel, co-founder and managing partner of aMoon.
“This raise is a vote of confidence for the Israeli healthtech ecosystem that extends beyond Israel’s borders, to include the sizable community of Israeli entrepreneurs and researchers in global hubs, such as Silicon Valley and Boston.”
aMoon anchor investor Marius Nacht – the co-founder and chairman of Check Point Software – exclusively backed aMoon’s first health technology and life sciences fund, which has invested in 16 companies.
“The convergence of medicine and technology is generating a wave of innovation capable of redefining medical care – beyond our imagination,” said Nacht.
“This presents a unique opportunity both for impacting human life and for the investor community.”
The company’s third fund, aMoon Velocity, is currently in development and will focus on higher risk, disruptive and early-stage technology.
In March 2018, recognizing Israel’s potential leadership in the field of global healthtech innovation, the cabinet approved a NIS 1 billion ($300m.) five-year national digital health plan which includes technological development, international cooperation, concentrated academic and industrial efforts and regulatory changes to encourage data research.
Israel’s position as a possible leader of the health technology revolution is also boosted by its strategic advantage in healthcare data. The country, through its healthcare providers’ databases, possesses highly-detailed electronic medical records for 98% of the population dating back two decades.
The second and third largest healthcare databases in the world are Israeli healthcare providers Clalit and Maccabi, only surpassed by California-based Kaiser Permanente.
The world is “approaching a tsunami in health care,” Schindel, the former head of the Prime Minister’s Office’s National Digital Bureau, told The Jerusalem Post last year.
“We want to take the convergence of technology and health care, and combine them together to build a powerful growth engine for Israel.”