Microsoft Ventures to invest in Israel IoT consortium

Microsoft Ventures, GE Ventures, HNA EcoTech, Qualcomm Ventures, and Tata have established  an investment vehicle with an initial sum of $20 million at Tel Aviv University (TAU) to develop IoT technologies (via Reuters)

According to Reuters, The i3 Equity Partners consortium, which consists of  Microsoft Ventures,GE Ventures, HNA EcoTech, Qualcomm Ventures and Tata will partner with Israel’s Pitango Venture Capital and the university’s company, Ramot, to launch the vehicle. A selection of seed and pre-seed startups and “Optional Conditions for success” are reportedly also expected in the vehicle , and also a financial investment of up to $1 million each.

For those who do not know, TAU is Israel’s largest research university and it consistently ranks among the world’s top 10 universities. According to Investopedia, n investment vehicle, meanwhile, is a “product used by investors with the intention of gaining positive returns. Investment vehicles can be low risk, such as certificates of deposit (CDs) or bonds, or carry a greater degree of risk such as with stocks, options, and futures.”