Israel's Mossad to set up fund to invest millions in Israeli tech start-ups

Israel's Security and Intelligence agency, Mossad, has announced that it will set up a fund to invest in technological innovation, the agency said in a press released on Tuesday.

An initial investment of 10,000,000 shekels (nearly three million dollars) will fund research and development programs of Israeli start-ups to develop new technologies for the intelligence agency.

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According to the press release, the fund known as Libertad, is intended to "provide innovative capability for maintaining and developing the Mossad's technological superiority by connecting to civilian cutting-edge technological startup companies."

The intelligence agency has called on entrepreneurs and innovators in cutting edge fields such as robotic technologies, energy harvesting, data encryption, automated identification technologies, and machine learning.

The statement said Mossad would not publicize the names of the firms it invests in.

It said Libertad would be open to anyone and provided an email address to submit proposals (apply@libertad.gov.il), adding that it would offer up to two million shekels ($570,000, 500,000 euros) for projects.

More could be granted for exceptional cases, it said.

It will not act as a typical investor. 

On the site's "Frequently Asked Questions" page, a question listed asks: "Do companies need to be frightened of collaborating with the Mossad?"

To which the reply states: " We are striving for a WIN-WIN situation, and feel we have built a model that will serve both us and the entrepreneurs."

The CIA in the United States has created a similar investment fund, known as In-Q-Tel. 

Israel is seen as a global leader in the technology industry, particularly regarding cyber-defense.

Libertad was the name of a ship that carried Jewish emigrants to what was then British-mandate Palestine in 1940 before the creation of the state of Israel.