Erel Margalit

Founder & Executive Chairman at Jerusalem Venture Partners · Joined 1993

Biography

Erel Margalit is widely credited as one of the architects of Israel's 'Startup Nation,' founding Jerusalem Venture Partners in 1993 after directing the Jerusalem Development Authority. He led JVP's Series A investment in CyberArk and later increased the firm's stake to roughly 47% through a secondary transaction with Goldman Sachs, positioning the identity security company for its 2014 Nasdaq IPO and, three decades later, a $25 billion acquisition by Palo Alto Networks. Margalit also orchestrated the $4.8 billion sale of Chromatis Networks to Lucent Technologies in 2000, then the largest Israeli tech exit on record, alongside public listings for QlikTech and Cogent Communications. He served in Israel's Knesset from 2013 to 2018 before returning to lead JVP full-time, and was recognized on the Forbes Midas List as, in the words of an Israeli business paper, 'the first venture capitalist with the golden touch.'

Education

• PhD

Previous Experience

• Director, Jerusalem Development Authority
• Member of Knesset, Israeli Parliament (2013-2018, Finance & Science and Technology Committees)

Notable Investments

Board Seats

• Earnix (Chairman)
• ControlUp (Chairman)
• ThetaRay (Chairman)

Career Timeline

Sources & References