{"id":216388,"date":"2026-07-21T11:45:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T11:45:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/216388\/"},"modified":"2026-07-21T11:45:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T11:45:10","slug":"what-investors-are-looking-for-in-israels-next-generation-of-startups","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/216388\/","title":{"rendered":"What investors are looking for in Israel’s next generation of startups"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Israeli tech ecosystem<\/a> is showing signs of renewed momentum, but the bar for startups has risen. What does it take for a startup to succeed today, and what separates the companies attracting capital from those that struggle?
“Above all, I look for founders who have a deep understanding of the problem they’re trying to solve\u05ea often because they’ve experienced it firsthand, though not always. Within the first few minutes of a pitch, it’s usually clear whether someone truly understands their customer or is approaching the problem from a distance. The second factor is defensibility. AI has dramatically reduced the cost and time required to build software, so a good idea alone is no longer enough. Anyone can build a solid version of your product, and they can do it quickly. The companies that stand out have something much harder to replicate: proprietary data, a meaningful distribution advantage, deep domain expertise, or simply the ability to execute faster than the competition. The third ingredient is speed. Once a company finds product-market fit, the strongest founders don’t stop to celebrate, they double down. Increasingly, that’s what separates good companies from truly exceptional ones.”
Israel has long been recognized as a global leader in cybersecurity, but the rapid rise of AI is reshaping the innovation landscape. Which technology sectors do you believe offer the greatest opportunities for Israeli startups over the next few years, and where does Israel hold a sustainable competitive advantage?
“Cybersecurity<\/a> remains a natural focus for investors because Israel is a genuine global leader in the field. UpWest was the first investor in SentinelOne before it went public, and today we’re continuing to back the next generation of cybersecurity companies, including Zenity. At the same time, I see enormous potential in vertical AI. We’ve invested in founders applying AI to sectors such as government technology, healthcare, physical AI, and other specialized industries that require deep technical expertise and a sophisticated understanding of complex problems. The strengths that made Israel a cybersecurity powerhouse – world-class engineering talent, technical rigor, and\u00a0an\u00a0ability to solve difficult real-world challenges – are exactly the same strengths that will drive the next generation of vertical AI companies. Alongside cyber, I believe that’s where many of Israel’s next major success stories will emerge.”
As a venture capital firm<\/a> operating across both Israel and the United States, you help startups expand into the American market. What are the biggest challenges Israeli founders face when scaling internationally, and what distinguishes the companies that successfully establish themselves in the U.S.?
“The biggest mistake Israeli founders make when entering the U.S.\u00a0market\u00a0is underestimating how much business is built on relationships, not just on the strength of the product.\u00a0That often means trying to sell into the U.S. while remaining based in Israel, assuming the same playbook that worked at home will resonate with American customers, or hiring a senior U.S. sales executive too early and expecting them to own customer relationships from day one.\u00a0The common thread is trust. Building credibility with U.S. customers takes far more time and founder involvement than many entrepreneurs anticipate. No matter how experienced a sales executive may be, they can’t replace the founder during those early stages. There are no shortcuts; you can’t hire your way around earning trust.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Israeli tech ecosystem is showing signs of renewed momentum, but the bar for startups has risen. What…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":216389,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[33],"tags":[62658,37,36780,5877,62657],"class_list":["post-216388","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-ai-technology-investments","tag-israel","tag-israel-tech","tag-startup","tag-venture-capital-firm"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116957801952300001","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216388","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=216388"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216388\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/216389"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=216388"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=216388"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=216388"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}