Message From The Team
The year started with renewed momentum across the board. We saw strong Q4 revenue for many portfolio companies, new product launches and new investments. In addition, we welcomed several new CEO, CMO and CROs to our Operator Advisors Network and kicked off a new interactive video series to share their best practices. In January, we also marked 100 days since October 7th. This has undoubtedly been one of the most challenging periods in the history of the country; but we also see incredible resilience shining through it.
Operator Series: Scaling to $40B and Building US Sales Teams with Zack Levine
We were thrilled to host Zack Levine, the VP of Revenue at Checkout.com, for an engaging fireside chat at our offices in Tel Aviv. Zack provided valuable insights into the process of building a sales team during Checkout.com's North American launch and shared his tried-and-true strategies for effectively scaling sales in the early stages.
Watch the full video or read the highlights.
Sector Spotlight
Israel has a track record of resilience through war and conflict. After October 7th we saw declines in the shekel and TA125 equities index, but both indicators have since climbed back to historical highs. This followed the same pattern of previous wars, reflecting strong fundamentals and an economy driven by high-tech exports. Moreover, since the start of the current conflict, 75 Israeli companies have raised over $1.4 billion in funding and Microsoft, Amazon, Intel, Google, Nvidia, IBM and Oracle have also reinforced their commitment to the local ecosystem through direct investment and other initiatives. To quote Intel CEO Patrick Gelsinger: “Israelis are the most resilient people in the world. They have not missed a single wafer commitment or product commitment despite the war.” Read more
January Portfolio News
- Tres announced $11M Series A funding round to scale platform for enterprises to manage crypto financial operations. Read more
- Faye continued to achieve record-breaking revenue in Q4 and was featured in Venture Beat. Read more
- Explorium launched ExplorAI, an LLM-powered data solution for deep sales insights across industries. Read more
What We Are Reading
The Battle Between AI Profits and Ethics | F2 Venture Capital
Challenges and Opportunities for Israeli Cyber Companies | Zero Networks
Israeli Startups Raised Nearly $500m in January | Globes
Intel Confirms $25B Investment in New Israeli Chip Factory | i24
Oracle CEO Believes "Now is a Very Good Time to Invest in Israeli Tech" | Calcalist
Amazon, Microsoft and Google are Opening Saudi Arabia HQs | Fortune
