As an Israel-based managing director at Deutsche Telekom Capital Partners (DTCP), the investment management arm of Germany-headquartered telecoms firm Deutsche Telekom, Irit Kahan manages local investment activity.
She joined DTCP in early 2015 when the fund was newly founded. For the past three years, she has been investing in Israel’s startup ecosystem, focusing on venture and growth-stage technology companies that develop intellectual property technologies in the business-to-business software-as-a-service space.
Kahan said she joined DTCP for its “tremendous global platform”. Despite carrying Deutsche Telekom in its name, the unit is not a conventional corporate venturing unit, but “an autonomous, fast and financially-driven technology investment platform with Deutsche Telekom as a limited partner”. At the end of 2018, the unit also added third-party capital to its platform.
She said: “Our portfolio companies can benefit from the access to Deutsche Telekom’s customers, brand, experts and network. Approximately 50% of our portfolio companies have established cooperation with Deutsche Telekom.”
She and her team have made 16 investments globally and built a “strong and proven track record” with three exits to date.
Kahan was previously an investment manager at Israel-based VC firm Vintage Investment Partners, focusing on primary and secondary late-stage investments. She started her career in investment banking at financial services firms HSBC and JPMorgan. She holds an MBA from Columbia Business School in New York.
