Kobi Shkuri, Founding Partner of Shkuri Ventures

In our aim to expand the Hub Texas Latam, we connected with Kobi Shkuri, Founding Partner of Shkuri Ventures, that is well known to leverage a uniquely diverse network of connections in 60+ countries to find inspiring founders to invest in and partner with. This network provides valuable insights into due diligence processes and supports the founders in their journeys.

1. When did you decide to become a VC Investor. Can you explain us more about Shkuri Ventures. Which your investment thesis and how is working right now, focused only in Israel?

First thing first, I’m married to Eva and am the father of two girls, Julia and Sarah. I’m originally from Israel. Currently spend my time between Warsaw and Tel Aviv. My background is in telecommunication and cyber. I spent 10 years in that space and was fortunate enough to conduct business in 65+ countries. I later did my MBA at INSEAD and joined LT Capital as a principal. I had interesting investment opportunities coming my way but the limited mandate of the fund (invests mainly in Poland) forced me to turn down these founders. At some point I thought: «There must be a way for me to participate in those investments». I didn’t have enough money to build a reasonable-size portfolio so I reached out to a few friends and people who invested with me in the past and we decided to invest together. This became Shkuri Ventures (shk.vc)

Sure so today we are at ~100 members, coming from 35 countries and variety of industries. We invest tickets of $50-150k (collectively) in pre-seed and seed stage companies. Global and sector agnostic. Most investment opportunities are coming from members of the network. They get to know the founders early and over time so when it’s time to invest we are ready. Members also help with due diligence and support portfolio companies. I personally know all the members and recently started adding more members who I believe can contribute to the group.

2. Which companies the Fund already funded and do you see a connection with USA or Latinamerica to be able to connect them with local ecosystems? Do they solve a global problem?

All the founders that we back have global ambitions. They want to be the best at what they do and I admire them for that. For some the more obvious path is to go global from day 1, for others there is a need to first win locally. I think one thing that makes Israeli startups interesting is that the local market is so small that it forces companies to think globally from day 1.

3. How was your experience as Mentor in Google Accelerator & Techstars? What is your goal there?

There are a lot of talented people in those places so it’s always fun. First time I mentored in such a setting I thought: «Maybe I’ll find some interesting investment opportunity, and if not, I still get to meet and guide interesting entrepreneurs.» So I decided to go for it.

5. What is your vision of Stonks and why did you invest. They are doing a great job and expanding. Do you see them growing in other continents?

I believe in the democratization of investment opportunities. What happened in the last decade is that companies now stay private for longer, It means that if you only have access to public markets you miss on big part of the growth journey of these companies. And thus big part of the returns generated. Stonks provides people access to these companies. Ali, John and the team are turning the inviting experience into something social and engaging.

6. How did the INSEAD MBA impact you?

It helped with many things I’m doing in my day to day. INSEAD improved my ability to solve problems and understand incentives. The first members of my group were mostly INSEADers and one of my first investments was in an INSEAD founder. So I would say it contributed so far.

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