Roman Abramovich Leads Investment in Israel’s iAngels

GLOBES: iAngels has developed a model for investment of small amounts in start-ups, based on experienced investors. Russian billionaire and Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich continues to invest in Israeli start-ups: through Millhouse Capital, his investment company, he has led a $2.25 million investment in iAngels, a company started by entrepreneurs Mor Assia and Shelly Hod-Moyal. They founded iAngels in early 2014, and developed a model for investment of small amounts in startups, based on experienced investors. The company raised several hundred thousand dollars in the past, with the new investment making a total of $2.6 million raised by the company to date.

“We are very confident in the elite angels we’ve identified and their ability to spot the winners,” said Shelly Hod Moyal, Founding Partner at iAngels. “In fact, we’ve structured our business model to take the same risk that investors take when they invest in Israeli startups through the iAngels platform.”

“With iAngels, gone are the days when the crowdfunding platform could make money without the angels themselves succeeding,” added Mor Assia, Founding Partner at iAngels. “High-Net-Worth Individuals are choosing to co-invest with leading Israeli angels through the iAngels platform because they appreciate our unique ability to find and engage Israel’s top performing angels and analyze their investment opportunities to make sound recommendations to our angel community.”

iAngels’ platform enables anyone to invest relatively small amounts as part of a larger “buying group” thereby obtaining better joint value for his investment. The company itself selects worthwhile startups for investment, subject to recommendations from leading angels working in cooperation with the company whose investments constitutes their own commitment.

Other investors who participated in the seed round led by Millhouse Capital include Marc Lasry, Boaz Weinstein, Alex Waislitz, Drew Schaefer, Gigi Levy, David Assia, Daniel Recanati, Yanki Margalit and Marcy Simon.

Since the platform was launched in January 2014, 15 startups other than iAngels itself have used it to raise capital. In addition to the current round, $5.5 million has been raised to date through the system. Companies on the receiving end of investments from iAngels include Nanorep, Hello Doctor, and Myroll. Assia says, “Three of the 12 startups who raised capital through iAngels will hold another financing round at a value of over triple the value at which we made the investment this year.”

This is Abramovich’s third investment in Israel, all in the past year, following a $10 million investment in Storedot, which develops technology for very high speed charging of smartphones, and a $2 million investment in AcousticEye, which uses sound waves to test pipes.

“We cherry pick only the most promising Israeli startups, selecting only 5% of the investment opportunities we evaluate, said Assia. “Private investors around the world benefit from the due diligence performed by both iAngels and Israel’s top performing angel investors. We expect significant growth in 2015.”