US media and information company Hearst Corp’s investment fund Hearst Ventures is closing its operations in Israel. The partner leading its investments here, Gil Canaani, is expected to leave his position this August, “Globes” has learned. Hearst is one of the largest media conglomerates in the US with print brands such as Cosmopolitan magazine, Esquire, the San Francisco Chronicle and television channels including ESPN and dozens of other local brands. It also owns the ratings agency Fitch.
Hearst Ventures, its venture capital fund, has expanded to additional countries in the past decade and established local operations in Israel, the UK and China. Hearst Ventures has appointed former Canaan Partners investor Gil Canaan as its local partner in Tel Aviv and he has led investments in several companies including Otonomo, Via, Simply and Snappy.
To date, the company has no significant exits here, except for Otonomo, which completed a SPAC merger on Nasdaq and but has since lost 94% of its value. However, Via plans an IPO and Snappy is enjoying growth as a corporate gifting platform, despite a crisis in 2022-2023.
Industry sources do not believe that the closure of operations in Israel necessarily indicates a halt of investments in Israeli companies by Hearst Ventures. But rather the closure is part of a global move to shut down offices outside the US, although the closure of offices in China has not yet been announced.
“This is a difficult decision for us, and it does not diminish our commitment to the dynamic Israeli high-tech environment,” explained one of the senior partners at the fund for entrepreneurs in Israel in an email. “We look forward to continued cooperation with our colleagues here.”
Hearst Ventures is the latest in a series of funds that have scaled back operations in Israel. These include Samsung Next and Verizon Ventures, which closed their offices in Isral. At the same time, other foreign funds including Sequoia, Coatue and Premier have expanded operation in Israel since the start of the war.
Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on April 17, 2025.
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