The strategy of the Israeli fund Ariel in Italy: “Food, fashion and Space, we have invested in many startups”
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Arieli Capital, the Israeli-US family office fund specializing in investments in high-potential startups, has long been looking at Italy as an important development ground for its vision of innovation: “We have already invested in several Italian startups and, in collaboration with the Ice Agency, we have launched some acceleration programs for Italian startups, involving more than twenty companies and generating an economic value of over 10 million euros – says Or Haviv, partner of Arieli Capital -. Now we want to strengthen our presence here and we intend to open a fashion tech initiative in Milan by the first half of 2024”. Haviv has announced that by 2024 it will also open a branch in Milan dedicated to this promising area at the intersection of fashion and technology.
During the event Food Retail & Tech: insights for the future Organized by the Appetite for Disruption think tank, which brought together industry leaders, innovators and food retail investors, Arieli Capital launched a real call for innovative solutions in the field of food tech and agritech. Or Haviv, partner of Arieli, highlighted the importance of Italy as a pool of talent and innovation. He underlined the fact that the food sector is a key component of the Italian economy.
The fund’s investments in Italian startups: “We encourage them to overcome the fear of failure”
Arieli Capital has extensive experience investing in Italian startups and highlighted some of the past successes. “We have invested in various Italian startups, especially in the healthcare sector, but we have also looked at other sectors such as travel and agriculture – he declared -. We are interested in growing together with the companies in which we invest and in working on future financing phases for create added value”.
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But what is missing in the Italian innovative enterprise system to compete with the other major innovation systems in the world? “An interesting aspect of Arieli’s strategy is the approach we take in encouraging startups to overcome their fear of failure – he said -. In Israel, if you haven’t failed at least twice before the age of 30, you’re not considered ambitious enough. It is crucial that Italian entrepreneurs embrace risk and adopt a more growth-oriented mindset.”
Arieli Capital is known for its long-term investor mindset and its interest in not only providing capital, but also providing added value to the startups it invests in. Haviv said the fund seeks to build strong and lasting partnerships with businesses by working closely with them.
The foodtech in Israel: “Tackling climate change and ensuring the food of the future”
It is singular that a fund born between the US and Israel and largely participated by Israelis is interested in Italian foodtech. Indeed, in Israel, foodtech and agritech are particularly advanced. The Negev Desert, located in southern Israel, is known for its aridity and environmental adversity. However, precisely in this hostile environment, there is a place of great innovation and research in the field of Foodtech: the Regional Ramat Negev Research and Development Center.
“The Regional Ramat Negev – comments Haviv – is a research center active since the ’70s that has been able to exploit the climatic challenges of the desert to develop innovative solutions in the food and agricultural sector. The main objective of this center is to find ways to tackle climate change and ensure food security in a sustainable future”.
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The center specializes in precision agriculture and uses advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things (IoT) and machine learning to optimize agricultural production. In short, in Israel they manage to grow strawberries and tomatoes in the desert. But it’s not over. There are scale-ups in the country that print synthetic meat and are already able to scale the mechanism: “Tons of meat can be produced in one minute – he explains – the implications are enormous – adds the partner of Arieli Capital -. The Ramat Negev Regional is a tangible example of how Foodtech can play a crucial role in creating a more sustainable future for humanity. The innovative solutions developed in this research center can be applied not only in the Negev desert but also in other regions of the world, helping to fight food insecurity and protect the environment”. The public sector contributes strongly to the development of Israeli innovation. Suffice it to say that 70% of the budget of the Ministry of Agriculture (a supporter of Agrisrael 4.0 together with that of the Economy, Foreign Affairs and the Israel Export Institute) is destined for innovation.
The role of risk appetite. Investments in the space sector
In Italy there is still a certain aversion to risk among investors. This can be attributed in part to the Italian entrepreneurial culture, which often favors stability and caution over entrepreneurial risk. Despite this, the food sector is a fundamental pillar of the Italian economy and is attracting the attention of entrepreneurs and investors who see great potential for growth and innovation in this sector.
“In addition to the lack of propensity for risk – adds Haviv -. Greater institutional efforts would be important”. In Italy, lack of funding is often a barrier for startups. Arieli Family Office, on the other hand, underlined how they work with small ecosystems around the world, such as Slovenia, the Philippines and others, and how it is important to understand the different cultures and challenges of each ecosystem. In Israel, for example, the government has created platforms to de-risk investors and set up incubators that attract international capital.
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Among the sectors in which the family office invests – all related to human well-being and sustainability – there is the space sector, which Arieli Capital has also begun to explore in Italy: “We believe that the new frontier of humanity is space – concludes the partner -. We have already invested in the sector in Europe and, within the next year, we will develop a platform for early stage startups with ESA. There is a bottleneck in the validation of space technologies: for this reason we are building a validation platform with the European Space Agency to support early stage startups. We will launch it by the beginning of next year”.
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