American VC Raises $650M To Invest In Israeli, European Startups

US venture capital firm Accel has closed a $650 million fund that will invest in “exceptional” early-stage startups in Israel and Europe. 

Accel’s eighth early-stage fund will focus on a VC market that it says is a little under half of the size of the US market. Some $66 billion was invested in Israeli and European early-stage companies in 2023 – compared to just $1 billion in investments in 2003. 

Furthermore, the company says, there are now more than 350 Israeli and European-founded unicorns (businesses with over $1 billion) that have been backed by venture capitalists. 

“Finding, building relationships and partnering with exceptional founders regardless of where they are located has always been in our DNA,” said Harry Nelis, a partner in the Silicon Valley-based firm. 

“Our belief almost 25 years ago that Europe and Israel’s entrepreneurs had the vision and ambition to create global, category-defining companies has ensured we’ve been fortunate enough to partner with many of the region’s iconic companies over several technology cycles,” Nelis said. 

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