SBI JI Innovation Fund is a biopharma-focused venture capital fund. SBI JI was formed in early 2017 as a partnership between SBI Holdings, a Japanese-based financial services group; and Vertex, an Israeli venture capital investment firm investing in promising Israeli early-stage companies, with over $900 million under management. SBI JI cherry-picks Israeli or Israel-related venture-backed biopharma companies across different developmental stages. SBI JI is actively seeking companies that meet the following criteria: companies with state-of-the-art scientific foundations backed by a strong IP protection; companies that have already attracted investment from world-class investors; companies that have indications of inadequate or nonexistent therapies; companies managed by industry veterans, from executives to scientists; and companies with a rich therapeutic pipeline to follow the lead indication.