A Conversation with Daniel Cohen of Gemini Israel Funds (Israel Media Tour)

An article by Ayelet Noff    2 Comments

Company Name: Gemini
Founded in: 1992
Location: Herzliya Pituach, Israel

I had the pleasure of speaking with Daniel Cohen, General Partner at Gemini, an Israeli VC fund founded in 1992 by Ed Mlavsky, that invests in Israeli companies all over the world. Since 1992, Gemini has raised four funds and is currently in the middle of raising their fifth. Gemini began as a part of the Israeli Government program “Yozma” (”Initiative” in Hebrew), which offered to match funds for every Israeli VC that received investments outside of Israel. Gemini, the first and largest fund of the Yozma program, makes mostly seed and early stage investments.

Most recently the fund invested in Outbrain as part of its Internet Lab joint venture with Lightspeed, as well as XJet and Modu last year. The Internet Lab provides a great example of global Israeli reach. Through the lab, Gemini has backed six Israeli companies, with a true global presence (Israel, London, Silicon Valley, New York, Boston and Australia).

I asked Cohen what makes certain investments more attractive to Gemini than others. He replied: “At Gemini, we strongly believe that abnormal returns from venture capital can only come from large companies (even very large companies). Both XJet and Modu fall exactly in that category. We try to back great entrepreneurs that are going after unique market opportunities.”

I questioned Cohen about the advantages of being an Israeli startup. He replied that Israeli startups have the advantage of a global viewpoint, a much better understanding of mobile technology, and the ability to change and reposition themselves quickly and efficiently. Israeli startups are also cost effective. “Take for example mobile advertising,” said Cohen. “Israeli companies are dominating this space, with companies like Amobee, Pudding and others. We have backed an Israeli company called Massive Impact that is offering mobile advertising solutions in Asia. Massive provides a great example for a company that identifies global opportunities (beyond the US).”

In regards to the downsides of being an Israeli startup, Cohen mentioned that startups located in Israel often do not have as strong of an understanding of the average US consumer when compared to US-based startups. However, he believes that Israeli startups are only getting better. Israelis now have role models to look up to like Shy Agassi and Dov Moran, just as Mark Zuckerberg had role models like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs.

Cohen also added that Israelis understand that in order to survive in the technology sector, they must create the “Facebooks” of the future. This gives Israeli startups the drive to succeed. He added; “I am confident that Israel can and will produce great companies in the next five to ten years.” I tend to agree with him and hope that after reading the Israel Media Tour series, most of you do as well.

This post was originally posted August 4th on Mashable.com