PALO ALTO, CA--(Marketwired - April 26, 2017) - AgTech venture pioneer Finistere Ventures today announced the expansion of its global reach with the addition of experienced investment executives in Israel. With aggressive global growth plans, the firm has appointed Gil Meron (Meirovich) and Eyal Rosenthal as venture partners to explore and strengthen its AgTech investments and partnerships in this key region.
"As the way people grow, produce, market and consume food around the world evolves, it is a time of unprecedented change in the agriculture industry. We see Israel as a center of excellence in AgTech," said Arama Kukutai, co-founder and partner at Finistere Ventures. "Both Gil and Eyal worked closely with us on first investments in Israel, and we think having them on our team will help advance our mission as we continue to invest in Israeli disruptors across the agricultural and food value chains."
The appointment of Meron and Rosenthal as Israeli venture partners will intensify Finistere's accelerating reach in Israel. Meron and Rosenthal will work with existing Finistere portfolio companies in Israel and other forward-thinking entrepreneurs to advance AgTech innovation in Israel and drive global market penetration.
Meron and Rosenthal bring a deep understanding of the Israeli technology and investment communities, as well as exceptional knowledge of what it takes to grow innovators into market leaders to Finistere. In the last few years, they partnered with the Israeli innovation sector and worked with many local entrepreneurs. In addition, they acted on behalf of the International Finance Corporation (the World Bank Group) on AgTech investments in Israel and internationally. They also worked closely with R&D institutions and on mandates for corporate, private equity and venture capital investors in the Israeli market.
Before joining Finistere, Meron served as general manager of Yarden Group, where he successfully drove multiple CleanTech and AgTech investments and advised clients from Israel and abroad. In addition, he serves on the Board of leading membrane producer AMS Membranes. Previously, he spent years advising world-class companies on strategic issues as a consultant with Boston Consulting Group (BCG). Meron earned his MBA at the London Business School and his bachelor's degree in engineering from Tel Aviv University.
Rosenthal is a managing director in Infinity Equity Group, where he spent more than a decade leading its cross-border investments between Israel and China. In addition, he has served as a board member for Technoplus Ventures for the past six years. Rosenthal earned his master's degree in investment management from City, University of London and his bachelor's degree in business management from The University of Hull.
"We look forward to working even more closely with the Finistere team to help cultivate the next crop of technology game changers for the agriculture industry," noted Meron. "Finistere's global reach in the AgTech community is unmatched, and growing its footprint in Israel, a nation at the forefront of the AgTech frontier, is critical," said Rosenthal.
Actively investing in AgTech innovation, Finistere works closely with industry leaders such as Agrium, Bayer, DuPont, the International Farming Corporation and PepsiCo. Current Finistere portfolio companies CropX, Plenty and ZeaKal, and the firm recently co-founded Radicle, an acceleration fund dedicated to growing early stage AgTech startups into proven industry leaders with an alliance of top Ag industry leaders, including Israeli firm OurCrowd.
About Finistere Ventures
Finistere Ventures is a leading California-based agricultural technology and life sciences venture capital investor, with offices in Palo Alto and San Diego. Its team has developed and invested in some of the most successful AgTech companies of the last 20 years. Visit Finistere.com.