Smart Shooter Investor Alejandro Weinstein Exits With NIS 58 Million
Early investor Alejandro Weinstein exited Smart Shooter for NIS 58 million following a massive US contract. While scoring big there, his investments in Israeli firms Pluri and Gauzy have faced massive downturns.
Smart Shooter shares surged by over 30% last week following reports of securing the largest contract in its history—selected as the sole supplier of drone interception systems for the US Department of War, valued at up to $150 million. A day after the stock's rally, it was revealed that Alejandro (Alexander) Weinstein, one of Smart Shooter’s early investors, exited his investment by selling his remaining stake for approximately 58 million shekels.
This follows his sale of shares worth about 10 million shekels during the company's initial public offering (IPO) on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange in March. Weinstein, who held about 10% of the company's shares prior to the IPO—with the company currently valued at nearly 1 billion shekels—recorded a handsome profit estimated in the tens of millions of shekels after investing in Smart Shooter at its inception some 15 years ago.
Weinstein, 68, a Chilean-Jewish businessman, previously achieved a major exit in the pharma sector with the family company CFR, founded in 1922, which manufactured generic drugs for the Chilean market. Under his management, the company grew rapidly, and by the middle of the previous decade, it operated in 26 countries with 15 manufacturing plants—attracting the attention of pharma giant Abbott, which acquired it in 2014 for $2.9 billion. In an interview with Globes last year, Weinstein recounted the rapid growth: "We went public on the Chilean stock exchange with tenfold oversubscriptions, driven in part by the fact that we were debt-free. We went public to make acquisitions, and that is what we did."
Since the sale of CFR, Weinstein has operated primarily as a private investor, including in Israeli companies—both directly and through funds. In that same interview, he noted: "I invest all over the world, and of course in Israel, which I am very connected to." Among others, he mentioned investments in digital health startups such as Tytocare, Scopio, and Medial EarlySign. When asked what he looks for in potential investments, he said: "I like to be the first investor in a company. First of all, I look for what is not in the financial report, such as the talent and corporate culture. After that, I examine the scale of the opportunity, and then how much the technology disrupts the field. Today I am open to areas like genomics, digital health, and medical devices.
"As an investor, one of the things I can contribute to my companies is planning their market-entry strategy into the US. There is no single solution; almost always, you need to do it with a local partner."
Investments Far From Being a Success
"I started investing in stocks back in school," Weinstein recalled, adding that he identified two undervalued Israeli companies on Nasdaq. One of them is Pluri, a stem cell company in which he has invested over $17 million in total, currently holding 28.7% (making him the largest shareholder) and serving as its chairman; the second is Gauzy, which developed "smart glass," in which he invested even before its 2024 IPO.
However, in both of these ventures, his investment is far from being considered a success. To date, the value of Weinstein’s holding in Pluri stands at only about $3.2 million, reflecting a significant loss after Pluri's stock plummeted by roughly 77% since his initial investment in January 2025, trading at a meager market cap of just $12.5 million. In last year's interview, he called the company the "crown jewel" and expressed great enthusiasm for stem cells.
Struggling Portfolio Companies
The second "jewel" he identified was Gauzy, a company specializing in technology that controls light transmission through glass, with applications in aviation, architecture, and more. At the time of the IPO, he held 9.1% of Gauzy's shares, valued then at about $22.4 million, reflecting a tidy paper profit since he reportedly invested only a few million dollars. Later, when the stock weakened post-IPO, in a show of confidence he invested an additional unreported sum.
Gauzy, which went public about two years ago, struggled to gain momentum, and last summer—amid bankruptcy risks—reached a debt restructuring agreement that was approved by the court, according to company reports. The agreement included a $7 million capital injection via a private placement led by Weinstein. Gauzy currently trades at a nominal value of about $6 million, having lost 98.5% of its IPO value and still facing the risk of delisting from Nasdaq.
Another company that wiped out most of its value and in which Weinstein invested is Safe-T-Group, which developed technology to prevent driver distraction caused by mobile phones. For a time, he was a substantial shareholder after investing $1.5 million in 2022, but his stake was subsequently diluted. Safe-T-Group's stock plummeted during this period, wiping out almost all of its value.
