From LATAM to Israel: LIP Ventures' $90 million leap into Startup Nation
As the Americas are hit with swirling news of tariffs, LIP Ventures is doubling down on its approach to find the best and brightest new companies across the ocean in the Middle East. Most notable are its efforts to invest heavily in Startup Nation, a tech region the VC firm admits has seen challenges but called “past the bottom and on the way up” to prosperity in the next five years.
With $90 million in the bank from a group of 200 high-net-worth individuals and family offices across Latin America, the VC is helping connect the two regions by raising investment in Israel, boosting its talent force, and helping Israeli entrepreneurs be exposed to the LATAM region.
Leapfrog Innovation Powerhouse (LIP) Ventures is run by Shabot and Managing Partner Mario Nissan, a former CEO and co-founder of Flock, alongside Partner & Head of Israel Alan Weisleder, a Costa Rica native who’s lived his adult life in Israel and spent five years at OurCrowd as Partner and Executive Vice President, Investor Relations. It has a sector-agnostic second fund of $90 million to invest $3-4 million in early growth companies, usually ones with annual revenues ranging between $5-15 million. The idea is that they connect overseas investors with Israeli talent and technology to help them grow (or ‘leapfrog’) their businesses and help drive revenue through an extensive network across Spanish-speaking countries in Latin America.
Mario Nissan (left), Nathan Shabot (center) and Alan Weisleder (right)