Former Israeli NBA player raises $60 million for Israeli startups, views it as 'Zionism 2.0'

Former Israeli NBA player Omri Casspi has raised $60 million to support, fund and strengthen Israeli startups. The capital, raised by the athlete's second seed venture capital fund, Swish Venture, will reportedly be earmarked for key tech areas, such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and cloud infrastructure. 

“We are launching Swish at a time when the importance of the high-tech sector to Israel is maturing,” Casspi said during an interview with The Times of Israel. The former basketball star views the challenging war period as an opportunity to embrace a revitalized form of Zionism in the 21st century. 

“In this not easy climate during war and with high interest rates, we see this period as Zionism 2.0, a time and age of building generational companies from Israel, and we want to take advantage of that and help them build a great industry,” Casspi explained. His ambition is to invest in approximately 10 startups, allocating between $5 million and $7 million per company. 

Casspi remains optimistic about the future of the Israeli tech industry despite the challenges.

“There are a lot of great founders coming back to build the next big business, the next big firm, and they have a lot of experience and we are right there to potentially take advantage and help build the future of the tech ecosystem in Israel,” Casspi stated. 

After a successful stint with Israel's premier club, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Omri Casspi was drafted by the Sacramento Kings in 2009, becoming the first Israeli to play in the U.S. National Basketball Association. Over the years, he also played for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Houston Rockets, New Orleans Pelicans, Minnesota Timberwolves and Golden State Warriors.

In November 2023, only a month after the Hamas Oct. 7 terror attack in southern Israel, Casspi played an instrumental role in bringing the tech billionaire Elon Musk to Israel.

During his visit, Musk met with Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog. He also visited some of the Israeli border communities most affected by the Hamas invasion and massacre last year.

Casspi said he invited Musk to Israel last year “with the underlying premise that he is a great friend of Israel," saying that “it was not a political trip, but it was for Elon, one of the most influential people in the world, to visit Gaza border communities and see things firsthand, which created a big impact on people when it was posted on social media platforms.”

“The trip at the end of the day cost me a significant amount of money, but it was definitely worth it, as it put the cause of bringing back the hostages to the front [of the] news the following day,” the former NBA star added. 

He also revealed that his seed venture capital fund is working in cooperation with former top Meta official Sheryl Sandberg.