About Pontifax
Pontifax is a venture capital firm founded in 2004. It is primarily based out of Herzliya, Israel. As of Apr 2026, Pontifax is an active investor, having invested in 94 companies, with 1 new investment in the last 12 months. It primarily invests in Series A round in Israel based startups. Its investments are spread across a wide range of sectors from Life Sciences to High Tech and Enterprise Applications. Most recently it participated in the $***** Series C round of Adcendo Overall, Pontifax portfolio has seen 25 IPOs and 19 acquisitions including key companies like Kite Pharma, Keros Therapeutics and ProQR Therapeutics. A lot of funds co-invest with Pontifax, with names like Orbimed sharing a substantial percentage of its portfolio. Pontifax has team of 6 people including 5 partners.Key Metrics
Team Members
Portfolio Count
Portfolio Sectors
Portfolio Locations
Rounds of Entry
Series A, Series B & 4 more
Portfolio IPOs
Deals in last 12 months
Pontifax's List of Top Investments
Pontifax has a portfolio of 94 companies. Their most notable investments are in ABAC Therapeutics and Raziel Therapeutics.Their portfolio spans across Israel, United States, France and 7 more locations. They have invested in Life Sciences, High Tech, Enterprise Applications and 3 other sectors, across stages such as Series A, Series B and 4 more. Here is the list of top investments by Pontifax:1. Kite Pharma
Developer of cancer immunotherapy products using genetic engineering. The company's product Yescarta a CAR-T therapy for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory large B-Cell lymphoma and TECARTUS is a CD19-directed genetically modified autologous T cell immunotherapy indicated for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory mantle cell lymphoma.
Key facts about Kite Pharma
- Founded Year: 2009
- Location: Los Angeles (United States)
- Annual Revenue: $100M - $500M as on Dec 31, 2024
- Stage: Acquired
- Total Funding till date: $97.7M
- Employee Count: 3,991 as on May 31, 2026
- Investors: Amgen Business Development, Pontifax and 10 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Post IPO, Apr 03, 2018, $*****
- Highlight: Acquired
Keros Therapeutics is developing small molecules and biologics for rare neuromuscular and hematologic diseases. The product pipeline involves KER-050 to treat myelodysplastic syndrome and myelofibrosis (phase II); KER-047 to treat hepcidin-cased anemia and fibrodysplasia ossificans progressive (FOP); KER-012 to treat pulmonary arterial hypertension and bone disorders.
Key facts about Keros Therapeutics
- Founded Year: 2016
- Location: Lexington (United States)
- Annual Revenue: $100M - $500M as on Dec 31, 2025
- Stage: Public
- Total Funding till date: $90M
- Employee Count: 125 as on May 31, 2026
- Investors: Foresite Capital, Venrock and 9 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series C, Mar 04, 2020, $*****
- Highlight: Public
Developer of RNA-based therapeutics for the treatment of genetic disorders such as inherited retinal disorders. The company has designed therapeutic candidates to specifically target and repair the defective messenger RNA, (mRNA). Their proprietary technology known as Axiomer involves the use of single-stranded RNA-based oligonucleotides, which act as guide sequences to repair (single nucleotide changes to RNA) the targeted abnormal mRNA. The product pipeline includes QR-110, for Leber’s congenital amaurosis patients, QR-421 for mediated retinitis pigmentosa and Usher syndrome, QR-1123 for retinal mediated retinitis pigmentosa.
Key facts about ProQR Therapeutics
- Founded Year: 2012
- Location: Leiden (Netherlands)
- Stage: Public
- Total Funding till date: $58M
- Employee Count: 201 as on May 31, 2026
- Investors: Gilde Healthcare, Foresite Capital and 7 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Post IPO, Jul 14, 2020, $*****
- Highlight: Public
4. 89bio
89bio is developing therapies for treating nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and other liver and metabolic disorders. The lead candidate is BIO89-100, which is a long-acting glycopegylated fibroblast growth factor 21 analog used for treating NASH. They have developed the product from their proprietary glycopegylation technology. The candidate is in phase I clinical trial.
Key facts about 89bio
- Founded Year: 2018
- Location: San Francisco (United States)
- Last Known Valuation: $*****
- Stage: Acquired
- Total Funding till date: $60M
- Employee Count: 123 as on May 31, 2026
- Investors: Longitude Capital, K2 HealthVentures and 3 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series A, Oct 25, 2018, $*****
- Highlight: Acquired
Developer of therapeutics to treat urothelial and specialty cancers. The company uses proprietary technology RTGel to deliver targeted therapies which include "Jelmyto" for the treatment of adult patients with low-grade Upper Tract Urothelial Cancer.
Key facts about UroGen Pharma
- Founded Year: 2004
- Location: Ra anana (Israel)
- Stage: Public
- Total Funding till date: $7M
- Employee Count: 327 as on May 31, 2026
- Investors: RTW Investments, Arkin and 12 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Post IPO, Jul 27, 2023, $*****
- Highlight: Public
Pontifax's Year-on-Year Investment Trends
Pontifax has invested in 94 companies over the last 21 years, with an average of 5 new investments annually in the last 10 years. In 2025, it made 6 investments, while as of Apr 2026, it has made 1 investment in this year. Its most recent first time investment was in Crystalystx and most recent follow-on round was in Adcendo.Year | No. of Investments | ||
|---|---|---|---|
1st Round | Follow-on | Total | |
2026 (YTD) | 0 | 1 | 1 |
2025 | 3 | 3 | 6 |
2024 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
2023 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
2022 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
2021 | 10 | 5 | 15 |
2020 | 11 | 6 | 17 |
2019 | 6 | 3 | 9 |
2018 | 6 | 0 | 6 |
2017 | 6 | 6 | 12 |
Pontifax's Investments by Stage
Pontifax is primarily an Early Stage Investor investor majorly investing in Series A (39) rounds where average round size is $1.28B, Series B (18) rounds where average round size is $912M and Post IPO (8) rounds where average round size is $256M.Stage of entry | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
Series A | 39 |
Series B | 18 |
Post IPO | 8 |
Seed | 6 |
Series C | 3 |
Others | 1 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
Pontifax's Investments by Sector
Pontifax has a diverse portfolio, with companies operating in the Life Sciences, High Tech, Sustainability Tech, Enterprise Applications and Healthcare. Notably, it has invested in 83 Tech companies, 72 Enterprise (B2B) companies, 10 Software companies and at least 7 companies focusing on Tech hardware.Sector | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
Life Sciences | 71 |
High Tech | 10 |
Sustainability Tech | 5 |
Enterprise Applications | 3 |
Healthcare | 3 |
Others | 3 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
Pontifax's Investments by Geography
Pontifax has made most investments in Israel (33), followed by United States where it has made 23 investments.Country | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
Israel | 33 |
United States | 23 |
France | 8 |
Belgium | 3 |
Denmark | 2 |
Others | 6 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
Pontifax's recent investments
Pontifax has made 1 investments in 2026 so far - Adcendo.Here are the most recent investments by Pontifax:
Filter this listDate | Company | Location | Round Details | Round Amount | Co-Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Apr 14, 2026 | Denmark | Series C | 2505 | [+15] | |
Oct 16, 2025 | France | Series A | 4436 | [+9] | |
Oct 15, 2025 | France | Series C | 8079 | [+5] | |
Sep 30, 2025 | United States | Series A | 1655 | [+10] | |
Jun 03, 2025 | Israel | Series A | 7369 |
IPOs and Publicly Listed companies in Pontifax's Portfolio
25 of Pontifax's portfolio companies have become public. AgomAb Therapeutics got listed on the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ), in Feb 2026 at marketcap of $780M and ARS Pharmaceuticals got listed on the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ).Here are Pontifax's portfolio companies that went public:
Company | IPO Date | First Invested on | First Round of Investment | Round Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Feb 06, 2026 | Apr 03, 2019 | Series A | 5987 | |
Sep 15, 2022 | - | - | 9042 | |
Feb 04, 2022 | - | - | 9624 | |
Dec 04, 2020 | Mar 12, 2020 | Series B | 8327 | |
Apr 08, 2020 | Jan 07, 2019 | Series B | 2785 |
Acquired companies in Pontifax's Portfolio
19 companies from Pontifax's portfolio have been acquired. The most recent acquisition was CathWorks in Apr 2026 by Medtronic for $*****.Here are Pontifax's portfolio companies that got acquired most recently:
Company | Acquisition Date | First Invested on | First Round of Investment | Round Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Apr 20, 2026 | Oct 02, 2017 | Series B | 3820 | |
Sep 17, 2025 | Oct 25, 2018 | Series A | 8797 | |
Aug 20, 2024 | Jul 03, 2013 | Series A | 4136 | |
Mar 14, 2024 | Aug 06, 2019 | Series A | 8166 | |
Dec 22, 2023 | Apr 13, 2021 | Series B | 8959 |
Team profile of Pontifax
Pontifax has a team of 6 members including 5 Partners and 1 Principal located in Israel. Pontifax's team does not sit on the board of any company as of now.Here is a list of all team members in Pontifax:
Name | Designation | Location | Board Memberships | Contact Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Partner | Rishpon | - | ||
Partner | Israel | - | ||
Partner | Israel | - | ||
Partner | Israel | - | - | |
Partner | Israel | - | ||
Principal | Israel | - | - |
Co-investors of Pontifax
Over the past 21 years, 398 investors have co-invested in Pontifax's portfolio companies. This includes funds and angels.
- Invested before Pontifax: Orbimed, HHS and 81 others have invested in rounds before Pontifax. There are 5 companies where Orbimed has invested before Pontifax and 3 companies where HHS has invested before Pontifax.
- Top Co-investors of Pontifax: 156 investors entered a company along with Pontifax. These include investors like Orbimed (11 companies).
- Invested after Pontifax: A total of 159 investors have invested in Pontifax's portfolio after their investments. Top Investors include Quark Venture (4 companies), Orbimed (3 companies) and Andera Partners (3 companies).
Recent News related to Pontifax
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Adcendo ApS Completes $75 Million Series C FinancingCNW•Apr 14, 2026•Jeito, Bpifrance, Danmarks Eksport og Investeringsfond, Adcendo and 12 others
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Step Pharma Completes €38 Million Series C FinancingGlobeNewswire•Oct 15, 2025•Bpifrance, Step Pharma, Kurma Partners, V-Bio Ventures and 1 other
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Keros Therapeutics Announces $375M Capital Return Plan, Share Repurchase AgreementsGlobeNewswire•Oct 15, 2025•Site-Incorporated, Keros Therapeutics, Takeda, Pontifax and 1 other
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Novo-Backed Crystalys Debuts With $205M to Tackle GoutBioSpace•Sep 30, 2025•Crystalystx, AN Venture Partners, Catalys Pacific, KB Investment and 9 others
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Abcuro Announces $200 Million Series C Financing To Advance Its First-in-class Medicine In Development For Inclusion Body Myositisintelligence360•Feb 19, 2025•Abcuro, Soleus Capital, Eurofarma, BlackRock and 11 others
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After passing on M&A offers, Abcuro raises $200M in bid to become commercial drugmakerEndPoints News•Feb 12, 2025•Abcuro, New Enterprise Associates, Foresite Capital, RA Capital Management and 11 others
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Lutris Pharma Raises $30M in FundingFinSMEs•Jan 28, 2025•Lutris Pharma, Columbus Venture Partners, Pontifax, Peregrine Ventures and 1 other
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Lutris Pharma gets $30M to boost anti-cancer drug efficacy.PR Newswire•Jan 28, 2025•Lutris Pharma, Columbus Venture Partners, Pontifax, Peregrine Ventures and 1 other
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Indapta Therapeutics: $22.5 Million Raised For Advancing Clinical Trials Of Cancer And Autoimmune TreatmentsPulse 2.0•Dec 25, 2024•Indapta, RA Capital Management, Leaps by Bayer, Vertex Ventures HC and 2 others
