Firm led by first Israeli NBA player Omri Casspi opens new $250 million fund for high-tech startups

Omri Casspi, the first Israeli to play in the NBA, has raised $250 million for the third fund of his venture capital firm, Swish Ventures. The new financing brings the firm’s total funding to $800 million.

Swish Ventures plans to invest in about 12 early-stage high-tech companies, mainly at the seed or Series A stage. The average investment will be valued at $20 million. The fund will focus on cybersecurity, technology infrastructure, Physical AI, defense, industrial AI and government technology.

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Closing our third fund in a short period of time, with the support of some of the world’s leading institutional investors, is first and foremost a vote of confidence in the founders we back and the credit they deserve.

The firm has already backed companies including Cognition AI, Applied Compute, EON and Wonderful. Eight of the 20 companies in its portfolio have become unicorns, and Swish Ventures says their combined valuation exceeds $60 billion.

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For us, the new fund is a direct continuation of our focused strategy. We want to be the most meaningful partners to the world’s leading entrepreneurs.

Founded in early 2025, the firm is led by Casspi as its sole managing partner. New backers for the third fund include U.S. pension funds, leading American universities, family offices and Sequoia Capital.

“Closing our third fund in a short period of time, with the support of some of the world’s leading institutional investors, is first and foremost a vote of confidence in the founders we back and the credit they deserve,” Casspi said in a statement. He described the fund as a continuation of the firm’s focused strategy and said it aims to be a meaningful partner to a small number of exceptional founders each year.

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We believe in carefully selecting a small number of exceptional founders each year, allowing us to serve as true partners to them throughout their journey.