About

Yarden Venture Capital began as the first Silicon-Valley style venture capital fund investing in high tech startups in Chile and other countries in Latin America. Since launching in Santiago (Chile), Yarden has expanded its operations to Singapore in order to invest in Asian startups.

Now based in Singapore, Yarden Venture Capital was founded by Arnon Kohavi, an Israeli tech entrepreneur who has lived in Silicon Valley for over 15 years.

Articles in the press about Yarden VC

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

ABOUT THE FOUNDER

Arnon Kohavi is an investor and entrepreneur in emerging technologies. He is also a former senior executive at two publicly traded wireless companies: DSPC and Vyyo. At DSPC, Arnon served as EVP for business development & M&A, and was instrumental to the company’s IPO and follow-on offerings on Nasdaq, as well as to the sale of the Company to Intel Corp for $1.6 billion, the highest acquisition at the time of an Israel- related company. At Vyyo, where he also served as EVP, he led the company’s $150 million IPO and follow-on offerings as well investments in and acquiring early stage companies.

After leaving the corporate world, Arnon became an entrepreneur, mostly interested in consumer-related mobile and Internet applications. In 2006, Arnon founded and was the CEO of WeFi, a WiFi software company that combines easy Internet connection with social features. WeFi raised close to $20 million from leading Venture Capital firms in Silicon Valley and Israel. Arnon has started several other companies in the Internet space including Mapplr and utvee.

As a successful angel investor, Arnon invested, among others, in Comfy Interactive, which went public on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, and Neat Group that was later sold to Cendant Corporation.

Arnon is on the advisory board of Mobifusion and he is a former fellow at the Stanford University Digital Vision Program, where he deployed wireless technology in developing countries for education and income-generating opportunities. He has an MBA degree from Anderson School at UCLA and a BA from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

Arnon has traveled to over 50 countries and is particularly interested in helping to create a vibrant eco-system of innovation in developing countries. His current venture focuses on developing the first early-stage venture capital firm in Asia and Latin America.

See the Linked In Profile of Arnon Kohavi

Contact Arnon Kohavi: arnon [at] yardenvc.com