The Central District Court has appointed a provisional receiver for foodtech company InnovoPro, which produces chickpea protein. The company, which in the past few years has raised millions of dollars, has become insolvent, with debts amounting to NIS 6 million. The court issued a stay of proceedings, freezing lawsuits by creditors, and appointed Adv. Gonen Kestenbaum as provisional receiver. A hearing on the situation of the company has been set down for September 7.
Last week, Innovopro applied to the court to start insolvency proceedings. The request, filed by Adv. Idan Adler Reiss of Furth, Wilensky, Mizrachi, Knaani, states that the company was founded in 2013 by physician and engineer Dr. Ascher Shmulewitz. The main product that it developed, CP-Pro70, is a chickpea protein concentrate with a high nutritional profile and with a variety of uses in the food industry.
The start seemed promising. InnovoPro raised over $27 million in several investment rounds. In 2018, it was awarded a CA$800,000 grant by the Canada-Israel Industrial Research and Development Foundation, and since 2019 it has received grants totaling NIS 400,000 from the Ministry of Economy.
The company even won international recognition, including a “Seal of Excellence” from the European Commission, which selected the company as one of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) “RisingFoodStars.” In 2021, the company was chosen by the UN as one of the 50 most impactful small and medium-size companies on the future of global food systems.
Since 2021, however, InnovoPro has accumulated losses of $18 million. Since March 2025 it has been trying to recruit new investors, but without success. A foreign fund with which it was in negotiations ultimately decided not to invest, and the existing shareholders refused to put in more money. There were talks with TerraProtein Equity Partners, but these were inconclusive.
Because of its failure to find investors, InnovoPro announced that it was insolvent both on its balance sheet and in its cash flow. In March this year it vacated its offices in Ra’anana, and in June it put all eight of its employees on unpaid leave.
InnovoPro’s debts amount to NIS 6 million. In the application to the court, the company states that it cannot meet its liabilities. Most of the debt, NIS 4.6 million, is to secured creditor Silicon Valley Bank.
The court filing indicates that the company is optimistic that it could shortly be sold. “The urgent need for the appointment of a provisional receiver arises from the fact that, up until a few days ago, the company attracted interest from potential investors (including foreign investors), such that there is an urgent need for a provisional receiver to be able, within a short time, at his discretion, to publish a call for bids to buy the company and/or its business and/or its assets.”
The company’s assets include intellectual property in the form of applications for patents and trademarks, as well as equipment such as a centrifuge in storage in the US, laboratory equipment, and computers. The company even states in its application that its assets include 42 kilograms of chickpea flour, also stored in the US.
Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on July 30, 2025.
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