Overview

Gender

male

Investor Type

Investment Partner

Erel N. Margalit founded Jerusalem Venture Partners (JVP) over 25 years ago and is one of the chief architects of the start-up nation. Chosen for the Forbes Midas list as the leading non-American venture capitalist and by Israel’s prestigious business publication TheMarker as the “venture capitalist with the golden touch”. JVP continues to be repeatedly ranked as one of the top six venture capital firms in the world in terms of consistent fund returns.

Under Erel’s leadership, JVP has raised over $1.4 billion across nine funds, spanning all stages of venture capital, and has orchestrated some of the largest exits out of Israel. These include the $4.8 billion sale of Chromatis to Lucent Technologies, the listing and sale of Netro for $5.5 billion, the NASDAQ listing and ultimate sale of Cogent Communications (NASDAQ: CCOI, current value $2.7 billion), the listing and exit of QlikTech for $2.6 billion (NASDAQ: QLIK) and the listing of CyberArk for $2.5 billion (NASDAQ: CYBR). With over 140 investments, 12 public offerings on NASDAQ and numerous industry sales, JVP’s portfolio companies continue to drive global markets today.

As part of JVP’s global expansion under Erel’s leadership, JVP launched the International NYC Cyber Center. A New-York Cyber Security hub, in partnership with the City of New-York, The NYC Economic Development Corp, Columbia University, New York University, and Cornell. The newly established innovation greenhouse will be home to the greatest minds in the cyber field and will bridge between Israel and NYC.

During his tenure as Member of the Israeli Knesset, between the years 2013 - 2017, Erel was a member of the prestigious national finance and foreign affairs committees. Erel holds a Doctor of Philosophy from Columbia University.