In the days after October 7, 2023, Chen Linchevski had an idea that would reverberate from Israel throughout the world and ultimately lead to investments made through The Foundation at JEWISHcolorado.
Linchevski had attended the funeral of Captain Hadar Kama, 24, the great-grandson of Golda Meir’s older sister and a member of an elite IDF unit who was killed by Hamas terrorists at Kfar Aza. Watching Kama’s family mourn, Linchevski asked a life-changing question: “What can I do to make Israel a great place to live once this war has come to an end?”
The answer to the question came in the form of an Israeli private equity firm—Iron Nation.
The Founding of Iron Nation
In November 2023, with Co-founders Gil Friedlander and Jason Wolf, Linchevski launched Iron Nation.
“Israel is a country that boasts a robust start-up culture with a dynamic amount of innovation,” says Ben Valore-Caplan, Co-President of Syntrinsic, JEWISHcolorado’s investment advisor. “The original purpose of Iron Nation was to raise capital for an emergency fund to partner with some of Israel’s most promising start-up companies working in technology, health care, agriculture, and cybersecurity.”
After the attack on October 7th, some of these companies were struggling because investors pulled back during the uncertainties of war. Other companies faced difficulties because of challenges throughout Israel’s economy as reserves were called up to war, sending everyone from a company’s CEO to its software coders to the front lines.
“Iron Nation set out to raise $20 million to be able to provide investment capital—not philanthropic donations—to 15-20 promising companies to keep them afloat in the short term,” says Valore-Caplan. “To qualify for Iron Nation investment, the companies needed to be healthy and have critical capital needs in the next six to nine months to be able to get to the next level of business.”
More than 900 companies applied to Iron Nation. Only 20 received funding from the first fund of $20 million, including seven companies founded by women.
The Iron Nation funding opened doors for the recipient companies. They were provided non-dilutive grants from the Israel Innovation Authority, meaning that they received “matching” infusions of capital which would reduce risk for investors in Iron Nation start-ups.
“It’s also important to note that for the first Iron Nation fund, the founders, principals, legal team, accounting team, everyone involved offered their time and talent pro bono,” says Valore-Caplan. “They assembled a ‘Who’s Who’ of the Israeli start-up ecosystem to donate their time, sourcing deals and doing due diligence, and that really improves the return appeal for investors.”
With the success of Iron Nation’s Fund I in attracting and deploying capital, it should be no surprise that Fund II has already been started, in part because of investments from organizations like JEWISHcolorado.
Iron Nation and JEWISHcolorado
Iron Nation Fund I began as a short-term initiative, but as the war continued, the challenges of raising capital intensified for start-ups.
“The leadership team at Iron Nation decided to start Fund II with a goal of $100 million to continue investing in promising companies and to also offer follow-on investments to help companies get to the next level in the market,” Valore-Caplan says. “The goal of Iron Nation Fund II is the same as Fund I—to infuse capital into the Israel start-up ecosystem.”
The connection between Iron Nation and JEWISHcolorado dates back to JEWISHcolorado’s decision in 2014 to go beyond philanthropy in Israel and to make investing in Israel a priority.
That decision more than a decade ago was strengthened in 2022 and reinforced after October 7th. Nearly seven percent of JEWISHcolorado’s investable assets under the umbrella of The Foundation at JEWISHcolorado—Donor Advised Funds, Endowments, and Restricted Funds—are invested in Israel. Of that, two to three percent is invested in Iron Nation Funds I and II.
“This is not intended to be a concessionary investment, where some financial returns are sacrificed to achieve a social or environmental impact,” says Valore-Caplan. “The goal here is to make a healthy return. Iron Nation creates an unusual opportunity to blend JEWISHcolorado’s financial objectives and its mission in Israel.”
Investors in The Foundation at JEWISHcolorado who are interested in learning more about the Foundation’s investment platform, investing in Israel, or investing in Iron Nation specifically should contact Daphna Strelitz, JEWISHcolorado’s Foundation Manager.