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New Era Capital Partners
New Era Capital Partners was founded by Gideon Argov, a former CEO of Entegris and longtime operating executive at firms including Parthenon Capital and...
New Era Capital Partners
New Era Capital Partners was founded by Gideon Argov, a former CEO of Entegris and longtime operating executive at firms including Parthenon Capital and Berkshire Partners, where he remains an advisory director. Argov brought on Ran Arad, a former senior advisor to President Shimon Peres who started his finance career at Lehman Brothers, to co-lead the firm. The partnership draws its investment committee and advisory board from alumni of McKinsey, J.P. Morgan, Viola Private Equity, and Berkshire Partners, creating a team built for direct operational intervention rather than passive portfolio monitoring. The firm targets early growth-stage companies from Seed to Series B, writing initial checks between $1 million and $10 million with reserved follow-on capital. Its portfolio spans enterprise software, digital health, mobility, cybersecurity, and climate-adjacent industrial tech. Confirmed positions include Papaya Global (AI-first workforce OS), Optibus (public transit optimization), Variantyx (whole-genome sequencing diagnostics), Workiz (field-service management platform), and Hyliion (electrified commercial powertrains). New Era invests primarily via direct equity and SPVs, with a stated geographic mandate covering North America, Europe, and Asia. The firm reports a typical due-diligence cadence of one to four weeks, with investment committee decisions factoring the degree to which the partnership can add operational value post-close. New Era maintains dual headquarters in Boston and Tel Aviv, while its website lists a Washington, United States address for contact purposes. The senior team includes Ziv Gafni (former associate partner at McKinsey's digital practice in Israel), Principal Selma Kveim (former McKinsey and EY consultant), and U.S. Chief of Staff Samantha Libraty (former State Department and White House appointee). The firm is adjacent to the Peres Center for Peace & Innovation through board overlap; Chairman of its advisory board, Chemi Peres, co-founded Pitango Venture Capital and chairs the Peres Center. Ayelet Frisch, a senior director at the firm, previously served as President Peres’s strategic branding and PR advisor. Recent firm activity: New Era has not publicly disclosed a fundraise or major personnel move within the last 24 months; the most recent observable signal is the deepening of its portfolio in applied-AI and climate-adjacent companies, including Metha.ai (bovine methane reduction) and aiOla (speech AI for industrial workflows). The structural differentiator is New Era's insistence on serving as an embedded operational partner rather than a check-writer. Unlike a standard venture fund that contributes board oversight and introductions, the firm's partners are former line executives who run point on business development, pricing strategy, and technology architecture for portfolio companies. That posture traces back to Argov's own career: he operated companies for two decades before building the firm, and he staffed it with general partners whose resumes list GM, transformation-lead, and CFO roles ahead of investing titles. The model concentrates deal volume but raises the bar for value-add — a constraint that explains the firm's relatively narrow portfolio of roughly two dozen names.
General information
Firm type
Private Equity
Year founded
—
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Washington
Corporate office
Washington, United States
Additional offices
Tel Aviv, Israel · Boston, MA, United States
Principals
Gideon Argov
Founder & Managing Partner
Ran Arad
Managing Partner
Ziv Gafni
Partner
Selma Kveim
Principal
Samantha Libraty
U.S. Chief of Staff and Investor Relations lead
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at New Era Capital Partners?
Founder and Managing Partner Gideon Argov chairs the investment committee, with Managing Partner Ran Arad and Partner Ziv Gafni as core voting members. Argov brings operating CEO experience from Entegris and Parthenon Capital; Arad’s background spans presidential advisory work and Lehman Brothers; Gafni was an associate partner at McKinsey leading digital transformations. The committee determines which deals proceed after the investment team’s diligence recommendation, as outlined on the firm’s website.
How does New Era Capital Partners source proprietary deal flow?
The firm sources primarily through its network in Israel’s technology ecosystem, reinforced by the professional relationships of its senior team and advisory board. Managing Partner Ran Arad’s tenure in the Office of the President of Israel and Ayelet Frisch’s strategic communications role under Shimon Peres give the firm unusual access to Israeli founders. The firm’s portfolio page lists Papaya Global, Optibus, and Variantyx among its holdings, consistent with a sourcing model that funnels Israeli companies into North American and European growth trajectories.
Does New Era Capital Partners participate in fund commitments or only direct deals?
New Era’s stated mandate is to invest directly in startups and through special purpose vehicles (SPVs). There is no evidence of the firm committing capital as a limited partner to external venture funds. Its website emphasizes a hands-on, co-investor posture in which the firm takes equity stakes and embeds operational partners in portfolio companies.
What investment stages does New Era Capital Partners typically target?
Per its Altss-curated firm record, New Era targets Seed, Series A, and Series B rounds — the precise window where companies with an Israeli nexus begin scaling internationally and can absorb the operational resources the firm provides. Check sizes range from $1 million to $10 million, with reserves for follow-on capital. Its portfolio reflects this staging, with companies such as Hyliion and Optibus illustrating post-Seed bets on industrial and mobility tech.
Which sectors does New Era Capital Partners explicitly avoid?
New Era’s stated focus areas — HRTech, Mobility & Transportation, Digital Health, PropTech, Workflow Automation, FinTech, AI/ML, Cybersecurity, and Enterprise Software — imply a deliberate avoidance of capital-intensive sectors such as hardware-heavy semiconductors, oil and gas, and primary pharmaceuticals manufacturing. No portfolio company operates in defense, nuclear energy, or consumer packaged goods, suggesting those verticals fall outside the firm’s active mandate.
What is the relationship between New Era Capital Partners and the Peres family?
Chemi Peres, son of the late President Shimon Peres, serves as Chairman of the firm’s advisory board. Two firm leaders — Managing Partner Ran Arad and senior director Ayelet Frisch — previously held senior advisory roles to President Peres. The firm is not a Peres family office, but the institutional overlap gives New Era preferential access to the Israeli innovation ecosystem that the Peres name and the Peres Center for Peace & Innovation anchor.
Does New Era Capital Partners maintain philanthropic structures, and how are they separated?
New Era the investment firm is legally distinct, but its principals carry significant philanthropic ties. Founder Gideon Argov launched the Shlomo Argov Fellows program at Reichman University and is a trustee of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Advisory board chair Chemi Peres leads the Peres Center. The firm does not publicly describe a foundation vehicle, leaving principal-level giving separate from the partnership’s investment operations.
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