Venture capitalists from Israel Michael Eisenberg and Eden Shochat said today that they have successfully closed a US$140 million fund for Aleph. The new fund is said to target Israeli businesses and entrepreneurs.

Eisenberg was previously Benchmark Capital's general partner. Shochat, however, was a general partner at rival investment firm Genesis.

Aleph will fill the void of early-stage support for the entrepreneurs and startups of the country. The current investment atmosphere in Israel is quite promising. The latest exit in the local market is Google's buyout of Waze amounting to US$1.1 billion. This signifies that Israel's future is leaning towards growth and investors are encouraged to strike while the iron is hot.

According to research, the multi-cultural country of Israel is the number one nation in the world when it comes to government spending on sciece and technology research and development. The country also prides itself with the world's largest working population (relative to total population) in the fields of science and technology.

Google, Oracle, IBM, and Microsoft have all set up bases in this country, recognizing the potential of the R&D offered by Israel.