The ‘$20 million exit’ that was really a $200,000 asset sale
Simtex investors learn the truth as disclosures reveal a far smaller deal than the one touted online.
A crowdfunding platform has exposed the bluff behind a supposed high-tech exit. In April, several websites reported that Simtex had been sold to Voye Global for $20 million (about NIS 74 million at the exchange rate at the time), and that following the payment, the two companies, both operating in communications technology and electronic SIM services, would merge.
There was just one problem: Simtex is not a classic private company. Because it raised money from the public via the crowdfunding platform PipelBiz, it was required to disclose the actual details of the transaction to its investors.
Simtex was founded in 2018 by entrepreneur Roei Schwartz, who served as CEO until its sale. In 2021, the company launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise NIS 4 million through a share offering on PipelBiz.
At the time of the fundraising, Simtex said it planned to launch its product in the U.S. in 2021, in the U.K. and China in 2022, and in Switzerland in 2023, eventually expanding its base of business customers to more than 200. The company also said it aimed to begin distributing dividends to investors by 2025, with the intention of pursuing an IPO later.
Riding the technological hype of that year, and despite being relatively unknown, Simtex managed to raise NIS 2 million at a NIS 12 million valuation, attracting nearly 250 investors. Many of them likely welcomed recent reports that the company had been sold for five times the price they paid for shares in 2021.
But expectations are one thing and reality is another. Two weeks before the reported exit, Schwartz sent an update to investors, obtained by Calcalist, in which he described a sharp downturn. “During the last quarter of 2023 and with the beginning of the war, the company’s revenues were dramatically affected with a decrease of over 70%,” he wrote.
“2024 began the same way 2023 ended, with a further decline in revenue, given that January-March are the weakest months in the tourism industry. The dramatic decline in our sales cycle has caused significant cash-flow gaps that have made it difficult for the company to function.”
Schwartz added that “during the second quarter, we embarked on a fundraising round that was unsuccessful, as external investors were concerned about the unstable situation in the country and the effects of the fighting.”
Amid these challenges, Simtex ended 2024 with revenues of $350,000, a 40% drop compared to 2023. The decline continued in the first quarter of 2025, with sales falling another 40%. Given these results, Schwartz said the company had “received an offer from a competing company to acquire our operations, that is, the acquisition of all our commercial contracts.” In other words, this was not an acquisition of the company itself, but an asset purchase.
“As such, the total value of the transaction, assuming we were able to transfer all commercial contracts, is $200,000,” Schwartz wrote. “This transaction will allow us to close debts with the bank and several suppliers, and immediately afterward place the company into a voluntary closure process to avoid insolvency.” The deal was approved on April 8 by shareholders, including those who invested via PipelBiz, who were ultimately left with very little.
Schwartz’s response: “Upon completion of the details of the deal, a summons was issued to all shareholders for a meeting held on April 4, 2025. The shareholders approved the deal, which stipulates that the company will receive an amount of up to $200,000, subject to meeting the goals. The amount and terms of the deal were disclosed to all shareholders prior to signing. The figures published online reflect the potential future value the assets acquired by Voye could reach. Throughout the process, we acted with full transparency toward our shareholders.”
Voye responded: “Voye acquired Simtex in the transaction model that Simtex presented to its investors and that was approved by them.”
