Bridges Israel
Bridges Israel is an Israeli impact private equity fund that backs companies solving social and environmental problems, water among them. Founded in 2018 as the local affiliate of Sir Ronald Cohen's Bridges Fund Management, it runs $80M reserved for Israel alone. As of 2026 it has backed 2 water companies across 4 deals.
Compiled by Antoine Walter, (don't) Waste Water, from official filings and direct intelligence in Leviathan.
The take
Bridges Israel is the Israeli arm of the firm Sir Ronald Cohen built, the financier most people credit with inventing impact investing. Founded in 2018 by Gal Hayut, Sandrine Montsma and Ran Grodecki, it took that London playbook and ring-fenced $80 million for Israel alone, on a flat rule: a deal has to clear the same return bar as any other fund's, then prove measurable impact on top.
Bridges Israel spreads that mandate across ag-tech, climate, digital health and water, on two tracks: growth capital for Israeli companies serving the country's underserved periphery, and impact-tech built to travel. Water is the cleanest expression of the thesis, where an Israeli engineering edge and a global scarcity problem meet a customer willing to pay.
In water Bridges Israel has backed two companies across four rounds, and the pair rhymes. Kando wires sewers with sensors so a utility can read its wastewater in real time; during COVID it flagged outbreaks days before swab tests, by reading the pipes. N-Drip, out of a former head of Israel's Water Authority, lets flood-irrigated fields switch to drip without a pump. Both turn a waste stream or a wasted drop into something measured and saved.
Bridges Israel is not a water-only fund, and that is the useful thing about reading it: water has to win its slot against health and climate on every cheque. For a newcomer mapping where impact capital actually lands in water, the funds that aren't water-only are the honest test of whether the sector competes on returns, and Bridges keeps writing into it.
Water Commitment Score
Compiled from official filings, third-party records, and direct intelligence from investors and founders, in Leviathan · recomputed monthly · as of Jun 2026.
How they invest
Portfolio · 2 water companies
Invests alongside
Highlighted = profiled on (don't) Waste Water.
Frequently asked
- What does Bridges Israel invest in?
- Bridges Israel backs Israeli companies that pair financial returns with measurable social or environmental impact, spanning ag-tech, climate, digital health and water. In water it has funded wastewater intelligence and water-saving irrigation. The fund is an impact investor first, picking water deals that solve a real scarcity or water-quality problem.
- Who runs Bridges Israel?
- Bridges Israel is run by three managing partners who founded it in 2018: Gal Hayut, Sandrine Montsma and Ran Grodecki, joined by partner Renana Shvartzvald as Head of Impact. Sir Ronald Cohen, the founder of Bridges Fund Management and a pioneer of impact investing, chairs its advisory board.
- Where is Bridges Israel based, and is it part of Bridges Fund Management?
- Bridges Israel is based in Glil Yam, Israel, and is the independent Israeli affiliate of the UK's Bridges Fund Management, with roughly $80M reserved for Israel only. It is a distinct fund from similarly named PR firms and other bridging funds that share the Bridges name.
- How many water companies has Bridges Israel backed?
- Bridges Israel has backed two water companies, Kando and N-Drip, across four funding rounds to date. Kando gives utilities a real-time read on wastewater quality through in-pipe sensors; N-Drip makes gravity-powered drip irrigation that helps flood-irrigated farms cut water use without added energy.