Israel’s top VC firm Pitango launches First Labs Investment DAO to bridge Web2 and Web3 

Pitango is Israel’s largest venture capital fund and most prominent VC co-founded by the son of the former Prime Minister of Israel Shimon Peres. In the last two years alone, Pitango has invested in more than 20 companies and have 40 active companies in our portfolio including four unicorns.

Today, Pitango announced the launch of First Labs, a thesis-driven web3 lab designed to bridge the traditional economy and web3. Israel’s leading venture capital firm, Pitango operates seed and early venture fund Pitango First. The latter has now masterminded First Labs, which incorporates Israel’s first investment DAO to support the needs of web3 investors, entrepreneurs, and developers.

First Labs will support investment in early-stage companies utilizing web3 technologies including blockchain, tokenization, NFTs, and metaverses. It will identify ventures that have sustainable growth models through equity and/or token-based investments. More than just a web3 investment fund, First Labs will provide the mentoring to help projects realize their potential by introducing them to its extensive partner network.

Ayal Itzkovitz, Managing Partner at PItango First: “We’ve been involved in the crypto space in the last five years and have been following it closely. We believe that the time is ripe to bring the VC and crypto native community together in a new, modern, and relevant vehicle that will foster innovation and support sustainable venture building in the Web 3.0 space”

In keeping with the democratic, community-centric principles that underpin web3, First Labs will operate a novel investment DAO, known as First DAO. Founding members of the DAO include Aviv Barzilay, core members of the Pitango First team, and leading blockchain figures including Tomer Weiss, Amit Peled, Oren De-lange and MarketAcross partners Nadav Dekner, Elad Mor, and Itai Elizur.

Aviv Barzilay, Head of First Labs said: “From liquidity mining to token engineering, First Labs is designed to answer the unique needs of the crypto space. Our platform will allow founders and community members to connect and will empower web2 companies to make the leap into web3 with confidence. Having partnered with top crypto-native companies and domain experts, First Labs has the expertise to unlock the web3 universe and everything it has to offer.”

Despite the vast potential that web3 holds for fostering highly engaged communities, centered around asset ownership, tokenization, virtual worlds, and global access, it remains isolated from the traditional tech world. First Labs will aim to bridge this divide, onboarding web2 companies to the fast-growing space while making it easier for investors to identify the first wave of web3 unicorns.

First DAO will incorporate the structure of a decentralized autonomous organization over time, gradually assigning stewardship to its community. Having exited stealth mode today, First Labs intends to launch its first program to accelerate web3 teams within two months. Its community members will play a pivotal role in advancing the developments of ideas and concepts around the projects it supports in the First Labs Program.

Founded in 1993 by Chemi Peres, Aharon Dovrat, Habib Hazzan, Rami Kalish, Pitango is Israel’s largest venture capital fund with over $1.8 billion under management. Pitango First is the seed and early-stage fund of Pitango. As an Israeli VC, they’ve invested in more than 20 companies in the last two years and have 40 active companies in our portfolio including four unicorns: Graphcore, PsiQuantum, Optibus, and Drivenets. The firm leverages the vast Pitango portfolio of almost 100 active companies and about 200 alumni companies to drive strategic alliances for its companies.

First Labs is a web3 venture lab bridging web2 and web3. The creation of Pitango First, First Labs is focused on three main pillars: the community, its projects, and connectivity between the traditional economy and the crypto space. The investment activity of First Labs will be managed by First DAO, an investment DAO tasked with identifying outstanding web3 startups. To join the First Labs waitlist, go to: first-labs.xyz.