Yarden VC in Paris

Yarden Venture Capital continues on its world tour and is now based in Paris to look into and possibly invest in European tech startups. The tech startup scene has become much more international in the last five years, and as we have seen in Latin America and Asia, where we spent several months, many entrepreneurs are creating new applications and platforms for the growing number of people using smartphones and tablets.

Here are some trends we see in Europe and why we are looking to invest here:

(1) People in Europe have adopted tablets and smartphones in massive numbers, which means a move to a platform (mobile) that has a very large international audience. Startups in Europe developing for mobile will therefore have a worldwide market instead of just a local market.

(2) Climate for entrepreneurship has changed for the better. In the past, Europeans have been reluctant to start their own businesses, but that has changed with the new generation.

(3) More serial entrepreneurs in Europe mean more second, third and fourth startups by seasoned founders and a network of excellent mentors.

(4) More vibrant venture and seed capital scene: more VCs and seed investors are putting money in European startups.

Yarden VC will be looking at startups in the mobile and Internet spaces, not just those based in France, but also startups based in the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, Finland, Scandinavia, Spain, Russia and Eastern Europe.

Interview with Arnon Kohavi on why he left Chile after six months

Anna Heim of The Next Web recently interview Arnon Kohavi and asked him why he left Chile after six months and abandoned his plans to start a venture capital firm in that country:

According to Kohavi, it’s about timing. Chile has great potential and will be completely different in 10 years from now; but to put it mildly, it’s not quite there yet . . . The heart of the problem is Chile’s dramatic generation gap, between young entrepreneurs and the old generation. The Chilean society is less dynamic than Asia or the US; a handful of monopolistic families control the country . . .”

The article has generated an unusual amount of controversy. You can read it here:

Why This Investor Abandoned Setting Up a Startup Fund in Chile After Just 6 Months

Yarden Venture Capital is now in Singapore exploring its options in Asia.

Yarden Venture Capital expands to Singapore

Yarden Venture Capital is moving its base of operations to Singapore to take advantage of the massive growth in the number and quality of high tech startups in Asia. Founder Arnon Kohavi says:

“Singapore is an excellent place for a venture capital fund such as ours, which is looking to invest in East Asian, Southeast Asian, Chinese and Indian startups. We are looking to leverage our Silicon Valley and Latin American relationships to help startups in Asia.”

Article in Terra about Arnon Kohavi starting a VC fund in Chile

This article appeared in Terra about the opportunities in Chile for venture capital investments in tech companies, in particular, Chile’s stable political and economic climate and the talent base in Chile.

Experto israelí llega a Chile a crear fondo para proyectos tecnológicos

El experto en empresas tecnológicas, el israelí Arnon Kohavi, se ha asentado en nuestro país con la idea de potenciar y ayudar a concretar los proyectos innovadores en el ámbito de la tecnología. Para esto, el experto pretende crear un fondo de capitales de riesgo para emprendimientos tecnológicos. (Read more)

Yarden VC office hours, Wednesdays 3-5pm

We are holding office hours on Wednesdays from 3-5pm. You must email Esmeralda to schedule a time slot (usually 40 minutes): esme [at] yardenvc.com. NOTE: there will be some Wednesdays when we will not be available so scheduling a meeting is important.


La Segunda online: Israeli entrepreneur starts first VC fund in Chile

La Segunda online has a featured interview with Arnon Kohavi about the creation of the first Silicon Valley style venture capital fund that will invest in tech startups in Chile. In this article, Arnon emphasizes that Chile is strongly positioned to become the center of the tech ecosystem in Latin America because of its stability, attractive investment climate, and innovative government programs such as Startup Chile. With so many Chile-based startups (led by Chilean and foreign entrepreneurs) creating cool applications, what’s missing — and what Arnon is creating — is a venture capital fund that will invest in these startups and jumpstart the high tech revolution in Latin America.

Read the article in La Segunda Online:

“Gurú” israelí apuesta: “El próximo Skype, Facebook o Mercado Libre tiene que salir de Chile”