FirstFruits

Firstfruits Israel Impact Fund I, LP

Firm Headquarters: Israel

Date Founded: January 2019

Investments to Date: Under 10

firstfruitsfunds.com

This Page was Updated October 2020

Investment Approach

Firstfruits Funds’ purpose is to advance the Kingdom of God by growing redemptive businesses in Israel while providing investors reasonable returns.

The Fund invests in businesses operating in Israel with the goal of producing several interrelated outcomes:

  • Strengthening the economic base of the Body of Christ in Israel

  • Creating jobs that bless people – by providing a living wage, dignity, security and promote human flourishing

  • Creating a winsome and credible witness in the marketplace

The Fund takes an active role in growing the companies, primarily through training and ongoing coaching of the founding team, leveraging eco-system resources and the Israel Firstfruits business network.

Focused Geographic Regions of Investment: 

  • Is all of your activity in the US?
    None.

  • What countries outside of the US are you active in?
    Israel, with one investment through parent company registered overseas (Austria).

Focused Industries of Investment:

  • We do not have a specific industry focus.

Previous or Active Portfolio Companies:

  • ZippIT Intelligent Locking Solutions provides commercial and consumer product lines for secure transport, tracking and storage of high value, confidential and/or sensitive items.

  • PlasmaMash manufactures industrial equipment for high-temperature metal processing – cutting, coating and recycling.

  • GR8 Auto Israel imports and markets entry- and mid-market luxury vehicles as well as sports cars and other hard-to-find customized vehicles for the local market.

  • Lily pops is a boutique food manufacturing company, making 100% all-natural frozen fruit treats that are vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, preservative-free and kosher.

Investment Example:

Eldad and Helen (founders of lily pops) started making gluten-free and dairy-free pops for their kids, as two have Celiac disease and one is allergic to dairy. In 2015, while working as a contractor in the Congo, Eldad became paralyzed by a viral infection. In 2016 they contacted Israel Firstfruits (our associated charity) to get help purchasing specialized equipment to enable Eldad to walk again. Working with them, we discovered their “home grown” product, and encouraged them to turn it into a business. 

A few months later, Helen and Eldad (who was walking again) won first place in the business plan competition. They used the prize money along with capital borrowed from our micro-loan fund ($12K USD in total) to buy some basic equipment and begin the process of setting-up production. 

For 2 years they made steady but slow progress planning and seeking manufacturing locations that would meet the Ministry of Health regulations. To complete the production setup they needed additional capital.  So, in July 2019, the Fund invested $100K into their company. Within two months they completed renovations, equipment purchasing and installation.

However, the following 6 months tested their faith: they were forced to wait weeks for required inspections. Then, though informed in October 2019 that the facility was approved, there were additional months of bureaucratic delays in receiving the actual food production and distribution license, as well as the Kosher permit. By this time, newly announced regulations required different packaging, labeling and equipment. In addition, an unusually cold and rainy winter compounded with COVID, lead to cancellation of many larger outdoor events, at which lily pops previously sold product.  As a result, they struggled to meet revenue goals, and were again running out of money.

It became clear that Eldad and Helen needed both closer support and additional capital.  We approached a trusted and experienced local couple who are both business owners, to consider partnering in lily pops. The deal was signed and fresh capital (an additional $14K) injected into lily pops just as Israel entered complete lockdown in March 2020.

Leveraging the lockdown and finally armed with the necessary licenses and Kosher permit, lily pops launched an online advertising campaign offering home delivery. As a result, monthly unit sales grew 8x, while revenue grew 12x. They are currently improving their web-store and expanding their physical POS footprint by adding convenience stores, kiosks and other food retailers to their distribution network. Their plan is to become profitable by end of Q1-2021.

Lily pops is on track to become profitable in Q1-2021 and grow to become a premier provider of tasty healthy frozen pops for Israeli families, with uncompromising quality and nutritional value. Eldad and Helen want the business to bring glory to God and bless the local Body.

Capital Raise Strategy

  • Total Assets Under Management: $1.1M USD

  • Our number of Investors: 30

  • Average Investment: $125,000 USD

  • Minimum Amount: $80,000 USD

  • % of Capital from Top 3 Investors: 27%

  • Financial Reporting Frequency to Investors: Annual

  • Setup to accept charitable capital through the National Christian Foundation or other listing platforms?
    The current Fund is closed, but our next fund should be able to handle charitable capital.

Leadership Team

  • Cumulative Leadership Experience in Accredited Investing: 10-20 years

Mordechai Wiseman | Managing Director (GP)

Mordechai Wiseman is Managing Director of Firstfruits Funds, Co-Founder, Chairman & International Director of Israel Firstfruits Center for Economic Advancement, and Co-Founder of the Messianic Business Fellowship. He has over 25 years of international management, marketing, technology and business development experience in various industries. Mordechai has served companies and non-profit organizations ranging in size from small start-ups to Fortune 500 multinational corporations. He is a social entrepreneur and is passionate about equipping people to pursue their calling. Mordechai has a B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering and a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) from Cornell University, NY, USA.  Mordechai is a third generation of Jewish-believers serving in Israel. He and his wife Meira, have three children and live in northern Israel near the Sea of Galilee.

Dustin parker | director (gp)

Dustin Parker is owner and CEO of the Box Companies and Co-Founder of Israel Firstfruits. Box is active in the insurance and financial advisory industries.  In 2007 Dustin bought the 90+ year old Property & Casualty insurance brokerage that he was managing, and under his leadership it tripled in size. In 2011 he co-founded Box Financial Advisors, a firm dedicated to providing age-old financial advice from an uncompromised biblical worldview. These two companies, along with the other businesses that have joined the Box family since, have been frameworks for sowing love and acceptance into men and women in the marketplace, while seeking and modeling Heaven.  Dustin spends significant time with his family of four beautiful children and an awesome Godly wife, Alicia. He holds a Masters in Accounting & Finance from Baylor University.

Michael Elliot | senior advisor

Michael Elliott is Senior Advisor to both Israel Firstfruits and Firstfruits Funds.  Mike joined us following a 35-year career running redemptive enterprises in Israel. Previously, as President and CEO of Medimor, he spent 8 years building it up from initial concept to becoming a market-leading medical device manufacturer. At Medimor he developed deep insight into the Israeli tech start-up scene, as he met, evaluated and engaged dozens of new companies every year. Prior to Medimor, Mike spent 25 years with Galtronics in a variety of roles in engineering and management.  Mike has extensive leadership experience in business and technology development, innovation management, strategy, and marketing.  He holds a BSc in Mechanical Engineering and a Master in Entrepreneurship and Innovation. Originally from the USA, Mike met his Finnish wife, Maija-Liisa, in Israel, where they raised together 5 girls and joyfully babysit 7 grandchildren.  

Clint Sneed | Investment Committee Advisor (External)

Clint Snead serves as President and Chief Compliance Officer of Box Financial Advisors, in Grapevine, Texas. In this role he oversees the research and due-diligence process that has deployed more than $67M in client assets across 57 individual investment projects. Each of these investments are primarily in the private placement alternative investment space. Prior to joining Box Financial, Clint worked in both the banking and financial planning industries, and oversaw a client portfolio of approximately $500M in assets. He completed his undergraduate education with a dual BBA in Finance and BA in Business Economics from Texas Tech University. In 2005, Clint completed his MBA from Southern Methodist University, with a Finance concentration with specializations in investments and financial consulting. Upon completing his MBA, he became a CFA Charterholder in 2010. Clint and his wife Audra have 3 kids and live in Southlake, Texas.

Ehab Jabour | Investment Committee Advisor (External)

Ehab Jabour serves as Chief Financial Officer at Davar Partners International. He has extensive experience in corporate finance, accounting and business management in various industries and organizations, both in Israel and internationally. As an active member of the Firstfruits community in Israel, Ehab serves as a consultant and financial adviser to numerous companies and organizations. He is passionate about advancing the Kingdom of God and making His word available to people of every tongue.  Ehab holds a BS in finance and accounting from Tel Aviv University. He and his wife Kayan have 3 daughters, and live in Kfar Yasif, in the Galilee. 

Christopher Kelly | Investment Committee Advisor (External)

Christopher Kelly is a serial entrepreneur. He is Co-Founder of Ezra Zion and CF Media.  Ezra Zion is a lifestyle company that delivers premium products via multiple ecommerce sites in addition to domestic and international retail locations. CF Media is a social media company that provides web and app development geared towards driving ecommerce. Prior to his business career, Chris studied Workforce Education and Development at Southern Illinois University, served in law-enforcement, and also served as a US Marine for fourteen years, including combat service in Iraq in 2003/2004. Chris and his wife Carey have two amazing daughters and live in Alvord Texas.

Spiritual Integration and Impact:

Faith Driven Investing can span a wide range from high yield to concessionary returns that have a higher level of spiritual integration. Having clear expectations of this philosophy is key for the movement. Each investment is unique and you might want to select multiples but if you had to choose one quadrant that best fits your groups spiritual integration and financial performance targets … What would it be?

  • Our longer-term goal is to achieve a high degree of spiritual integration and market-adjusted financial returns from our portfolio companies.

  • That said, at this stage of our community growth, just having stable, successful and well-run believer-owned businesses that are open about their faith, is already a huge win.

  • So, we are willing to invest in companies whose growth prospects are not as high as we would like and who are still early in their spiritual integration process, though all are well-intentioned believers.

  • We are active investors and work with our entrepreneurs (both before and after investment) to help them grow along both axis.

Describe the Spiritual Integration Activities of the Fund:

  • We strive to fully integrate our faith and a redemptive/kingdom intent into all aspects of the Fund – from our investment thesis and evaluation framework, to our engagement process and deal structuring, through to our ongoing assessment and operational involvement with portfolio companies. It starts with “inquiring/listening” prayer soaking all aspects of our work. We also are investing significant effort into developing better measures and tools to evaluate ourselves, the portfolio companies and the entrepreneurs we serve.

Is Impact and Spiritual Integration Tracked?

  • We are currently in the midst of developing a robust formal evaluation process.  We haven’t published anything publicly yet.

Are you partnered with any other organizations?

  • Domestically, we work closely with another organization in our capacity building work.  Internationally, we are part of several Christian business networks, as well as the GlobalCollab group and several of its working sub-groups. We are in constant communication with other capacity building organizations around the world, as well as via FDE/FDI.

A lot of Investing Conversations look at Social Impact related to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Is there one of these that most resonates with your organization?

  • Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth.

WHY The FAITH DRIVEN INVESTOR?

  • Why are you compelled to be certified and a part of the Faith Driven Investor Group?

    FDI/FDE are aligned with our worldview and goal of advancing the Kingdom of God through redemptive business.  We hope to find through the process the right partnerships, attract aligned investors, and strengthen strategic relationships.

  • Does the leadership align with the Unifying Principles on Faith Driven Investor and agree to the Code of Conduct? Yes. Wholeheartedly.

  • Who nominated you to be listed on the FDI site?

    Connected to the FDI/FDE team via conversation with Henry and via the GlobalCollab working group.  

  • AFFILIATIONS- Are you a part of any third party groups, affiliations that you would like to list here?

    Domestically, we work closely with another organization in our capacity building work.  Internationally, we are part of several Christian business networks, as well as the GlobalCollab group and several of its working sub-groups. We are in constant communication with other capacity building organizations around the world, as well as via FDE/FDI.

Learn More

  • Key Contact Name: Mordechai Wiseman

  • Email: m.wiseman@firstfruitsfunds.com