Yaron Orenstein

I added the new Israeli Proptech startup landscape by TLV Partners to my 2025 collection on VC Cafe. There are over 200+ Israeli startups operating in the proptech sector (including a number of unicorns). The new crop of AI-first startups are penetrating every layer of the tech stack - from elevating the tenant experience and enabling predictive maintenance, to construction site monitoring and delivering AI-driven infrastructure insights. Link to the CTech by Calcalist article with the commentary below.

35

‏4‏ ‏תגובות‏

Founder: “It feels like everything is possible in AI right now.” Me (VC): “That’s true. And that’s exactly what makes this moment tricky.” Investing in pre-seed Israeli AI startups never felt more exciting or more disorienting... At Remagine Ventures, we’re falling in love with ideas at an unprecedented rate. - Companies are adopting new tools, enabling young startups to get traction - Models are improving monthly. Tooling is cheap. - It genuinely feels like the entire market is up for grabs. But beneath the excitement, there are real headwinds. - OpenAI reportedly ran at an ~$8B loss in 2025, with some predicting insolvency by 2027. It needs massive funding to keep the lights on - VC funding hit record highs, but AI now takes half of all VC dollars (which is increasingly concentrated in mega-deals) - Enterprise pilot → paid conversion sits at just 12% (McKinsey & Company, 2025) So while it feels like everything is possible, not everything is viable. If we're realistic, most AI startups will fall in one of these buckets: - Some companies will build enduring businesses - Some will find strong strategic buyers - Many will struggle quietly as economics, competition, and buyer expectations catch up. At pre-seed, the hardest part isn’t spotting what’s impressive. It’s spotting what’s resilient: 1) real wedges, not demos 2) painful problems, not cool tech 3) credible paths to distribution, not just early usage 4) founders who can navigate model shifts, pricing pressure, and buyer fatigue 5) a reinforcement learning advantage - the more data we get, the better the product becomes So when a founder tells me “everything is possible,” my next question is usually: What makes this company one that can last when the excitement fades? Pictured: an AI photoshoot with Chewbacca

36

‏10‏ ‏תגובות‏

Israeli startup Octup, which makes an AI-powered platform to help manage and analyze logistics centers, has raised $12 million in a Seed funding round. The round was led by JAL Ventures Fund and Shine Capital, with support from Tal Ventures, Stone Capital, and HCS Capital. The company was started in 2022 by Alon Partuk and now has around 30 employees, most of them in Israel. Octup’s main office is in Tel Aviv, and it also has offices in Toronto and Austin. Kathleen Sullivan Garman | Nimrod Posner 🔗 Read full article link in comment #octup #AI #Seed #funding #startupnews #businessupdate #businessnews

28

‏4‏ ‏תגובות‏

Exciting news from Octup: a $12M seed round! Proud to see Octup, the Israeli AI-driven logistics startup, raise $12M in Seed funding led by JAL Ventures and Shine Capital, with participation from Tal Ventures, Stone Capital, and HCS Capital. Octup is redefining logistics management with an AI platform that connects and automates operations across WMS, ERP, and shipping systems — turning complexity into clarity. So proud to see their story make headlines in Israel and worldwide Eido Minkovsky Ariel Hoffert Minkovsky Media‎ Kyle Kuhnel Ben Billingsley

60

‏7‏ ‏תגובות‏

Our partner Raz Mangel sat down with CTech by Calcalist to share our trends for 2026, and while the conversation covered everything from deep tech to AI infrastructure, one theme cuts through it all: Israeli companies are mastering the discipline of scaling. For years, the Israeli tech narrative centered on innovation. But what's changing now, and what global LPs are increasingly excited about, is the pairing of that innovation with systematic go-to-market execution. We're seeing it firsthand: multiple Greenfield portfolio companies that were at single-digit ARR when we invested are now approaching or crossing $100M+ ARR with line of sight to $1B. This didn't happen by accident. It's the result of implementing the right operational frameworks early - what we call the Seven Pillars of Efficient Growth: Strategy, Operational Framework, People, Pipeline, Sales Process, Partnerships, and Account Management. Our G²M Excellence program exists to help companies build this GTM infrastructure from the start, avoiding costly cycles and enabling the rapid yet efficient growth required to reach sustainable scale. This year, whether it's deep tech, AI infra, or cyber, the companies that will define Israel's next decade won't just build great technology. They'll build enduring global businesses with the go-to-market muscle to match their technical depth. Read Greenfield Partners full trends and predictions for 2026 in the comments:

30

‏2‏ ‏תגובות‏

Israel is an underrated go-to-market test kitchen. Israel Innovation Springboard was highlighted in a recent WebProNews article on why Israel works not only for R&D, but also for early commercial validation. Why is Israel attractive for this? ▪️Israel has a small market with fast feedback loops ▪️The market has technically fluent buyers open to early adoption and failure tolerance ▪️Real customers and revenue with lower go-to-market risk Part of Israel Innovation Springboard's focus is building these early go-to-market pilots in Israel for global startups to test and adapt before expanding its markets elsewhere. For global startups, this means lower-risk, smaller scale validation before entering larger markets around the world. Israeli startups have the opportunity to collaborate and learn more about international scaling. Check out the article: https://lnkd.in/ek6waN3G Reach out to Israel Innovation Springboard to explore this topic further. Brian Wallace Yaron Flint

18

Terminal Africa Inc. users shipped 130,549 Kilograms of parcels through the platform in Q2 2025 🤯 That's an increase of 58.64% versus Q1 2025. Nnamdi Okoh and Udi Okoh are building one of the fastest growing logistics companies in the world right now 🚚

72

‏7‏ ‏תגובות‏

“The system is broken.” We keep chasing $100B valuations like it’s the norm. Said it last week, but it’s worth repeating, because let’s be honest… most of its paper. It’s not ARR driving these numbers. It’s hyper-funding rounds, inflated expectations, and a complete lack of liquidity. You’ve got companies that once hit $20B, now worth $600M. Others get acquired for $700M and then shut down within a year. And when you get to those inflated valuations, you're trapped: You can't exit. You’re not growing. You’re not liquid. You’re just stuck. The irony? Some of the smartest teams today are not raising massive rounds: → They're lean. → They’re keeping equity. → And they’re building actual businesses. So how are we going to get to $100B valuations off tiny teams, no revenue, and broken exits? You can’t. VCs are under pressure. LPs want liquidity. But IPOs are rare, private equity isn’t always interested, and secondaries, well, let’s be real… not a real solution for everyone. The system is overdue for change. Until then, we need to stop worshipping empty valuations. What’s one thing you would change about how we fund and value startups today? (Shout out to Ophir Reshef, Partner at the ISF Israel Secondary Fund for this insightful op-ed in Calcalist כלכליסט CTech by Calcalist) https://lnkd.in/egNMd6nG

26

‏4‏ ‏תגובות‏

🚀 Welcoming Insignito Solutions Ltd to the ICI Fund Portfolio! Excited to share our investment in Insignito, an Israeli startup pioneering the field of #drone #acoustics. Insignito's AI-powered technologies dramatically reduce drone noise, enable accurate long-range acoustic detection, and provide mission planning tools that optimize performance in real-world environments. What makes Insignito truly stand out is its founding team — Itay Nourian (CEO), Yarden Eilat (CTO), and Dor Ruf (VP R&D) — three longtime colleagues from the Israeli Air Force who bring deep technical expertise, operational excellence, and the trust that comes from years of working together in high-stakes environments. We believe Insignito has the potential to set the global standard for drone acoustics, opening new opportunities across commercial, defense, and urban applications. 👏 Grateful to back this visionary team and excited to see what’s ahead. 📩 Read more about Insignito in our latest newsletter: https://lnkd.in/dgM5u24d . Innovation • Community • Intelligence #DroneTechnology #AIInnovation #DeepTech #IsraeliStartups #VentureCapital #FutureOfFlight #AerospaceInnovation Timothy Jones Prof. Yaron Wolfsthal Aviv Nizri Ari Goldfarb

68

‏8‏ ‏תגובות‏

#1 in R&D Israel leads the world in R&D investment, dedicating over 6% of its GDP to research and innovation - a testament to its role as a global hub for technology, science and startup-driven growth.

168

‏19‏ ‏תגובות‏