# Pontifax Venture Capital

Pontifax Venture Capital is a Venture Capital based in Herzeliya, Israel.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Venture Capital
- **Headquarters:** Herzeliya, Israel
- **Region:** Middle East
- **Address:** 14 Shenkar St., Herzeliya, Israel
- **Founded:** 2004
- **Assets under management:** $1.2B (per the firm)
- **Website:** www.pontifax.com
- **LinkedIn:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/pontifax-venture-capital

## Regulatory record

- **Reports private funds:** No

## About

Pontifax Venture Capital is a private equity firm based in Herzeliya, Israel. It focuses on a Venture Capital strategy. The firm manages $1.2 billion in assets, with $34.5 million in available capital.

## Sectors

- BioPharma
- MedTech
- Digital Health

## People

- Tomer Kariv — Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer
- Ran Nussbaum — Managing Partner and Co-founder
- Asaf Shinar — Chief Financial Officer
- Ohad Hammer — Principal
- Momi Karako — Principal
- Lina Kaminski — Principal

## Questions

### Who runs investment decisions at Pontifax Venture Capital?

Co-founders Tomer Kariv (CEO) and Ran Nussbaum (Managing Partner) lead the firm. Both are trained in law and business respectively, and they sit on the boards of multiple portfolio companies. The team’s PhD bench, including Lina Kaminski and Ohad Hammer, evaluates the scientific underpinnings of every potential investment before it reaches the partnership.

### How concentrated is Pontifax’s mandate within healthcare?

The firm invests exclusively in life sciences. Its portfolio spans three sub-sectors — Biopharma, MedTech, and Digital Health — covering therapeutics, medical devices, and health-IT platforms. Pontifax does not diversify outside of the healthcare industry, a binding constraint that distinguishes it from most Israeli venture firms.

### What development stages does Pontifax target?

Pontifax deploys across all stages from company formation and seed rounds through to late-stage clinical and growth-equity rounds. Its active portfolio ranges from preclinical biotechs to publicly traded pharmaceutical companies. The firm’s leadership team explicitly structures the fund to back asset-centric startups founded in-house as well as external management teams entering clinical development.

### How does Pontifax source deal flow outside Israel?

Sourcing is global, with a heavy presence in the US and Europe alongside Israel. The firm’s website lists portfolio companies in Denmark (Adcendo, Adcytherix), Belgium (Precirix), the United Kingdom (Step Pharma), and multiple US hubs. Its team’s prior roles at New York-based equity research desks and at multinational pharmaceutical companies provide a non-Israeli origination pipeline.

### How is Eli Hurvitz’s legacy embedded in Pontifax’s governance?

Eli Hurvitz (1932–2011), the former CEO and chairman of Teva Pharmaceuticals, was a co-founder and chairman of Pontifax. His pharmaceutical-operating mindset shaped a firm that manages its portfolio with hands-on board participation and strategic planning — unusual for a venture capital firm. The firm invokes his legacy as its underwriting standard when evaluating whether to pursue a company or technology.

### Does Pontifax participate in venture debt, or is it pure equity?

Pontifax maintains a venture debt capability via Principal Momi Karako, who spent 16 years at Viola Credit executing more than 100 debt transactions. While the firm’s primary deployment is equity, the team’s in-house debt structuring experience gives it flexibility to use convertible structures and structured equity in mid- to late-stage financings when the capital stack warrants it.

## Related profiles

- [Ponte Partners](https://altss.com/profile/ponte-partners)
- [Pontinova Invest](https://altss.com/profile/pontinova-invest)

---

Last updated: 2026-06-03T20:00:00.000Z

Canonical page: https://altss.com/profile/pontifax-venture-capital

Maintained by Altss — https://altss.com — methodology: https://altss.com/methodology