Logo
9 out of 11 Articles
Austrailia

Australian Investors Bet on Israel's Climate, Energy, and Agritech Companies

A group of Australian venture capitalists is betting that Israel's next major investment opportunity lies beyond its traditional strengths in cyber and defense, and that Israeli climate, energy-transition, and agritech companies could become the next big thing for Australian investors and potentially for the continent itself. Next76, a co-venture between Bandera Capital and Foxglove Capital, was established two years ago to focus exclusively on Israeli companies.

David Solsky, an operating partner at Bandera, said Israel's performance in recent years has reinforced the case for investing in the country. "Despite the war and some of the challenges that Israelis face, the economy has continued to be strong. That Israel is the Start-Up Nation and the Scale-Up Nation keeps getting validated even over the past few years," Solsky said. From a Jewish perspective, he said, there was a general consensus among Australian Jews after October 7 that there was a greater need than ever to support Israel, with many becoming involved in philanthropic projects such as rebuilding communities in the South or advocating for Israel as antisemitism continued to rise.

"We started to look at how we could ultimately invest in Israel, and we think climate and energy transition are particularly relevant verticals," Solsky explained. "It is a relatively small market compared to cyber, defense and some of the other traditional verticals. But we have expertise in this area and … we figured if we made investments in this area, we could keep them moving forward." While the fund's managers continue to invest in Australia and the United States, among other places, they are also looking more broadly at Israel because "Israel's got amazing innovation… We have found what we think are some great companies."

(JPost/VFI News)

Pray for continued blessing on Israel's economy and its gift of innovation. Ask the Lord to strengthen the Australian Jewish community as it stands with Israel, to prosper every partnership that connects Israeli ingenuity with the nations, and to turn investment into lasting good for the land and its people. May Israel be a source of blessing to the ends of the earth.