JVP Partners With Netafim to Scout for Agritech, Foodtech Startups in the Galilee

Israel-based venture capital firm Jerusalem Venture Partners (JVP) announced a strategic partnership with Israeli drip-irrigation company Netafim Ltd. Together, the two companies will scout for startups in the fields of agritech and foodtech, focusing on the Galilee region in northern Israel. JVP Chairman Erel Margalit and Netafim CEO Ran Maidan discussed the partnership at an event marking the beginning of construction of a new foodtech hub in northern Israeli town Kiryat Shmona.

Netafim is the largest drip-irrigation manufacturer in the world. The company employs around 5,000 people in 17 manufacturing plants and almost 30 subsidiaries in Israel and abroad. Netafim will focus on scouting for companies with technologies pertaining to irrigation, precision agriculture, and other agricultural innovations. JVP partner Michal Drayman will be responsible for identifying agtech and foodtech startups with Netafim.

JVP and Netafim. Photo: Studio Golan

The foodtech hub, first announced in April 2018, is part of an initiative to incentivize startups and tech companies to launch activity in Israel’s north and south regions, far from the country’s main tech and economic hub in Tel Aviv. The initiative, called Israel Initiative ii2020, is spearheaded by Margalit and supported by the Israeli government.