Mangroves Israel partners launch new VC fund

European venture capital fund Mangrove Capital Partners is closing down its representative office in Israel, “Globes” has learned. Mangrove was founded in 2000 in Luxembourg and focuses on early stage investments in tech startups.

The fund, which operates mainly in Europe and the US, began investing in Israel in 2011 and quickly became a prominent investor in the growth wave of local tech companies. It was among the first investors in Wix as well as in WalkMe. The fund’s initial investment in Wix, then about $3 million, yielded cumulative returns of more than $400 million for the fund in 2018 and 2019. Mangrove also invested in WalkMe in the early stages and supported the company through to its IPO on Wall Street.

According to sources, the fund does not intend to continue operating in Israel, in the same format that has been used over the last decade; due, among other things, to a change in its global partnership structure. As part of the change, the fund’s offices in Tel Aviv will close.

However, sources stress that the end of its physical presence does not rule out continued investments in Israeli companies, and a number of investments have already been made this year. “Globes” has also learned that, Mangrove’s two Israeli partners are ending their roles in the fund and continuing with a new local fund they have founded.

According to sources, despite the plan to close the local representative office, the fund is examining alternative models for continued involvement in the market. Among the options being discussed are remote operations without a local team, targeted investments in areas where Mangrove has expertise, or perhaps even a connection to other Israeli funds in a cooperative format. According to sources familiar with the matter, this is a process that has been under consideration for a long time and is expected to continue for the next two years, until a clear direction is formulated.

Launching a new Israeli fund

Along with the changes at Mangrove, the two partners who have managed the fund’s investment activities in Israel in recent years, Roy Saar and Itay Gil-Asulin, have launched a new Israeli venture capital fund called 40RTY. The fund focuses on seed and pre-seed stage investments in the fields of AI, fintech, cyber, digital health and defensetech. Officially, Saar and Gil-Asulin will end their roles at Mangrove at the end of the year.

Currently, 40RTY is led by a team most of which has been associated with the professional environment of Wix in recent years. Alongside Saar and Gil-Asulin are Eyal Ben Yaakov, formerly of EY New York who accompanied Wix in its IPO, Inbar Hacham from INcapital, one of the first employees at Wix, as well as marketing specialist Ariel Margalit. The new fund is backed by a group of veteran Israeli investors, including Wix founders Avishai Abrahami and Nir Zohar, Mellanox founder Eyal Waldman, fintech giant Fiverr CEO Micha Kaufman, and WalkMe founder Rafael Sweary. Investors also include Wix itself and Waldman’s Waldo Fund.

According to sources familiar with the situation, the establishment of 40RTY was undertaken with direct support from Mangrove, as mentioned, in parallel with the examination of the future directions of action of the global fund. According to sources, the change taking place at Mangrove stems, among other things, from an internal adjustment related to the global partnership structure, the age dynamics of the partners, and the desire to create a new work path.

Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on November 17, 2025.

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