VC
Israel
New Fund 2024

Pontifax

Check Size
€3M – €20M

Investment Focus

Investment Stages

Geographic Focus

Global
Israel
United States
Europe

Investment Thesis

Israel-based healthcare-dedicated VC with $1.2B under management, investing in breakthrough life sciences innovations at all development stages. Track record of 24 IPOs and 19 acquisitions.

How to Pitch Pontifax

No Stated Policy
Pontifax hasn't published an outreach policy. A short, specific cold email is the safest default.

Who To Contact

Asaf Shinar
Partner
Life Sciences
Telecom
Enterprise
Momi Karako
Partner
Venture Debt
Source

Portfolio Highlights

Kite Pharma - CAR-T cell therapy (acquired by Gilead for $11.9B)
Keros Therapeutics - musculoskeletal and hematologic diseases (NASDAQ-listed)
Mereo BioPharma - rare disease biopharmaceuticals (NASDAQ-listed)

Team

Auto-detected from Pontifax's website.

Asaf Shinar
Partner

Joined Pontifax in 2007 with 15+ years managing finances and operations at Israeli and multinational VC firms.

Life Sciences
Telecom
Enterprise
Checked Sept 2026
Lina Kaminski
Principal

Principal involved in identifying and evaluating opportunities with PhD in glycosylation and postdoctoral research in Tuberculosis persistence.

Rare Disease
Gene Therapy
Checked Sept 2026
Momi Karako
Partner

Joined Pontifax in 2018 with 16+ years managing venture debt funds and 100+ debt transactions in mid to late-stage companies.

Venture Debt
Checked Sept 2026
Ohad Hammer
Investment Partner

Joined Pontifax in 2009, involved in identifying and evaluating new investment opportunities with M.S. in Biology.

Life Sciences
Checked Sept 2026
Ran Nussbaum
Managing Partner, Co-founder

Co-founder and managing partner overseeing 65+ portfolio companies globally with extensive pharma board experience including Kite Pharma, cCAM, and ArQule.

Life Sciences
Checked Sept 2026
Tomer Kariv
CEO, Co-founder

Co-founder and CEO of Pontifax with 10+ years in senior management at Israeli financial institutions investing in technology-driven startups.

Life Sciences
Checked Sept 2026

Focus and check size from the firm's website. Website reachable as of Aug 2026.

Ready to Reach Pontifax?

A fit check scores your pitch against their thesis, stage and ticket. An email draft uses their real deals and thesis, not a template.