A venture capital firm formed by IDF veterans

Omer Nagar, an Israeli venture capitalist who was involved in operations to return hostages during his recent reserve service in Gaza, was in Australia last month seeking investment from the local Jewish community in his early-stage fintech fund.

Nagar is co-founder, managing partner and CEO of The Garage, a venture capital firm investing in early-stage fintech and enterprise-tech startups.

He co-founded the firm with Eyal Redler and Shay Dan, with backing from Bank Leumi and BRM Group. The three founders served more than two decades in the IDF, bringing experience in the army’s intelligence and technology units.

Nagar completed senior command positions within Special Operations in Elite Units as well as in cybersecurity, while Dan was the head of R&D in artificial intelligence (AI).

Nagar told The AJN he served in reserves during the recent Gaza conflict and said he was involved in running operations to return the hostages.

“I was honoured to get this position, and I think it’s something that will stay with me forever,” he said.

While in Australia, Nagar spoke with The AJN about how The Garage emerged.

“We started the garage four years ago. It’s an early stage VC fund mainly focused on fintech and enterprise software. We’re backed by two banks and a few financial investors,” he said.

“We build a very unique vehicle where, on one hand, we are a totally independent vehicle … we can invest in any of the ventures that we believe can bring the right returns to our investors.

“But on the other hand, we got the keys to the bank … I basically mean that once we decide to invest in an early stage startup we have the power to plug them into the bank … into the operational technological environment. They basically build the solution inside the bank for the bank usage.”

Discussing its success, Nagar remarked, “Our first fund was a bit above $100 million … We are now raising our second fund, which will be probably the same size, between 100 and 120 [million] most of it already committed by institutions both in Israel and in the US, and a few … figures within the Jewish community here in Australia, and in the US.”

Asked how Australians can invest in these funds Nagar said, “We have a mixture of investors, most of them are institutions, so banks, pension funds or insurance companies, but we decided on the second fund to have a dedicated amount for either family offices or high net worth individuals.”

Nagar said his fund was an opportunity for Jewish investors to have “exposure to the Israeli tech system”, and said now is the time to invest in Israel because he predicts “the economy in Israel will boom”.

Turning to Israel’s leadership in AI, Nagar said, “I think Israel missed the beginning of the revolution when it comes to AI.

“But I think Israel is the leader when it comes to vertical AI solutions, and especially in fintech … hopefully we’re going to be leaders in the next generation of AI infrastructure.”

Nagar said he was delighted to be in Australia and could see from the people he met in the Australian Jewish community that they are passionate about backing Israeli entrepreneurs, being part of the “Israeli startup nation story”.

More info: thegarage.vc