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Yissum
Yissum commercializes Hebrew University of Jerusalem research, with over 200 spinouts including Mobileye and BriefCam since 1964.
Yissum
Founded in 1964, Yissum is the technology transfer company wholly owned by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Sitting atop Israel's oldest university with over 1,000 active researchers, Yissum captures commercially viable inventions from 7 academic campuses and marks the earliest formal institutional bridge between Israeli deep-tech academia and global venture funding. Its portfolio traces back to the foundational agricultural innovations that built Israel's modern agritech sector. Yissum operates across a wide early-stage mandate, primarily converting university-derived intellectual property into optioned or licensed startups. Asset classes concentrated are life sciences — including digital health, oncology, and medical devices — alongside cleantech, agriculture, computer science, and advanced materials. Notable past commercializations reaching public markets or landmark acquisitions include Mobileye, the autonomous driving system developer taken public then acquired by Intel for $15.3 billion (per Intel, 2017), and BriefCam, the video analytics platform acquired by Canon. Current participations span seed-to-Series A deal structures, often paired with Israeli venture builders like OurCrowd or JVP. Yissum does not disclose total deployment, but public record confirms over 200 active companies in its portfolio and more than 10,000 patents registered. Goldwaser joined as CEO in 2022 after serving in international pharmaceutical R&D leadership roles. The office has formal partnerships with dozens of multinationals, including Bayer, Google, and Novo Nordisk, often structuring multi-year research collaboration agreements that generate milestone payments flowing back to the university. The structural differentiator is the single-university anchor. Unlike broad-scope technology transfer aggregators, Yissum is legally integrated with one of the world's top 100 research universities, granting it exclusive first-look rights on inventions developed in Hebrew University labs. This quasi-monopsony position provides a concentrated, non-competitive pipeline of fundamentally researched assets before they enter standard VC syndication.
General information
Firm type
other
Year founded
1964
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
Middle East
Country
Israel
City
Jerusalem
Corporate office
Jerusalem, Israel
Principals
Dr. Itzik Goldwaser
CEO
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
What is Yissum's exact relationship with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem?
Yissum is the wholly owned technology transfer subsidiary of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, established in 1964. It operates as the exclusive commercial arm for university research, managing patenting, licensing, and spinout formation derived from faculty and student inventions across all campuses.
Who runs investment decisions and spinout formation at Yissum?
CEO Itzik Goldwaser oversees all commercialization decisions. He leads a team of business development professionals organized by scientific domain — each acting as deal leads for licensing, patent strategy, and spinout structuring. Goldwaser joined in early 2022 following a career at Teva Pharmaceutical Industries and other life-science multinationals.
Does Yissum take equity in the startups based on its IP?
Yissum typically receives equity in spinout companies in exchange for licensing Hebrew University-owned intellectual property. These stakes are structured on a deal-by-deal basis and are held alongside co-founding scientists and external venture investors. The firm also generates revenue through upfront licensing fees and milestone payments on partnered research.
Which sectors does Yissum explicitly prioritize?
Yissum concentrates on sectors where the Hebrew University has faculty depth: life sciences (therapeutics, diagnostics, digital health), agriculture and food technology, computer science and AI, cleantech and materials science, and cybersecurity. The university's medical school and affiliated Hadassah Medical Center feed the clinical pipeline.
How does Yissum source opportunities differently from a standard venture capital firm?
Yissum's deal flow originates entirely from the Hebrew University's 1,000+ principal investigators. The office receives formal invention disclosures from researchers, assesses commercial viability, files patents, and then seeks industry partners or forms startups — a pipeline unavailable to outside VCs without a structured university agreement.
What are Yissum's most commercially significant spinouts to date?
Mobileye, the computer vision and autonomous driving company, was founded in 1999 based on research by professor Amnon Shashua. It became Israel's largest-ever tech exit at $15.3 billion when Intel completed its acquisition. BriefCam, a video synopsis analytics platform, was acquired by Canon, and CollPlant, a regenerative medicine company, trades on Nasdaq.
Does Yissum maintain philanthropic structures separate from its commercial activities?
Yissum's profits flow back to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem to fund further academic research. University policy and Israeli regulatory requirements govern this separation. The company itself does not operate philanthropic programs, but the university's broader advancement office handles donor-directed giving.
Profile maintained by Altss using OSINT (open-source intelligence), regulatory filings, licensed data partners, and verified direct submissions. Read the methodology. Last updated: . Continuous refresh with full update cycles at least every 30 days.
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