The Early-Stage Accelerator "Fusion LA" Will Invest $ 110K In Israeli Start-Ups

The Early-Stage Accelerator Fusion LA Will Invest $ 110K In Israeli Start-Ups. Established in 2017, Fusion LA has invested in 36 Israeli companies. 6-9 companies are accepted into the program every 6 months and go through a 9-week mentorship program, with free office space in Santa Monica and a vast network of US-based investors and executives in Silicon Valley and Los Angeles
Applications for Fusion LA new cohort are open, and each company accepted into the program will receive $ 110,000 cash investment. Fusion is targeting Israeli start-ups looking to commercialize their products and adapt their go-to-market strategies to the US market. Over the past two years, the firm has invested in 36 early-stage (Seed & Pre-Seed) companies.
Further, the program has announced a new partnership with a Silicon Valley Venture Capital firm, GoAhead Ventures. The partnership will enhance Israeli founders' access to investors within the Silicon Valley ecosystem, and ability to scale in the US. GoAhead Ventures is an early stage venture capital fund managing over $ 110M in committed capital. The Menlo Park-based firm has invested in over 30 early-stage companies operating in the mobile, e-commerce, financial services, mobile and retail sectors, including 4 of Fusion LA alumni companies.
Based in Santa Monica, Fusion LA is a “home away from home” for Israeli founders moving to the US, offering housing and office space in California. The program facilitates meetings between Israeli founders and hundreds of Venture Capitalists, angels, tech executives and prospect clients in the West Coast.
The program invests in software companies, with a focus on key verticals: Media & Gaming, Software Enterprise (HR, Construction, Marketing), IoT & Smart Cities, Fintech, Agtech and frontier technologies including Augmented / Virtual Reality and Machine Learning.
$ 60M in follow-up financing
Alumni of Fusion LA program have raised over $ 60 million combined, while 25% have relocated to the US & 80% raised additional capital post-program. 22% of the companies are led by female founders.
Recent portfolio financing rounds included IKON ($ 4M), Hoopo ($ 3.5M), Zero Energy ($ 3.5M), Shapeshift Gaming ($ 2.5M), Arcus Team ($ 2.5M), DigitalOwl ($ 2M), Empirical ($ 1.6M) & Crowdvocate ($ 1.5M led by GoAhead Ventures).
Los Angeles - The fastest growing tech ecosystem in the US
Los Angeles is the creative capital of the world and the host city of the 2028 Olympic Games. With the largest port in the country and 25M people in SoCal, Los Angeles is the top consumer, retail, and trade market in the United States.
Silicon Beach is home to dozens of VCs and institutional investors. It is the fastest growing tech ecosystem in the US, and since 2012, the city has experienced constant growth in VC investments - six times larger. Last year, $ 6.4 billion was invested in local start-ups in 376 financing rounds and 120 exits & IPOs.
Recent exits of Honey ($ 4B by Paypal), Beats ($ 3B by Apple), Ring ($ 1B by Amazon), Dollar Shave ($ 1B by Unilever), local tech giants like Snap, Tinder, Ziprecruiter (HR), Scopely (gaming) and Procore (construction), and next-generation transportation tech companies like eScooters giant BIRD and Elon Musk's SpaceX— point to the depth and breadth of LA's still-growing tech industry.
Fusion LA was founded and managed by Guy Katsovich (previously, Managing Director of Israel's 8200 Accelerator program) and Yair Vardi (previously led Israeli Government's technology and innovation initiatives in Los Angeles). The firm's vision is to be the leading launchpad for Israeli startups in the United States and aims to invest in over 100 companies in the next few years.