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In case you’re new here, the word “Firgun” (pronounced ‘feer-goon’) is an informal modern Hebrew term and concept in Israeli culture (originally Yiddish), which describes genuine, unselfish delight or pride in the accomplishment of the other person. It’s the opposite of “schadenfreude” (which stands for being happy for someone else’s misfortune). Firgun is all about genuinely feeling and expressing happiness, pride, or admiration for members of our community’s accomplishments, good fortune and wins. More about the concept of Firgun and why it matters on VC Cafe: https://lnkd.in/dg2a86p
This past week marked more than 700 days since October 7 2023. There are still 48 Israeli ho**ages held in G**a. We must #BRIGTHEMHOME
August was a relatively quiet month in terms of funding, at least when it comes to announcements as “only” $410M was officially raised and ten deals were disclosed. Several Israeli companies are eyeing IPOs as the window is now opening. Amongst them are Via, Lendbuzz, NSO Group and others…
In the wider tech world, a court ruling allowed Google to keep Google Chrome but the company has to end exclusive deals that position Google as the default search engine on devices. Speaking of browsers, The Browser Company (creator of Arc and Dia) was acquired by @atlass
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” – John Quincy Adams
NEW INVESTMENT DEALS
- Congratulations Shlomo Kramer and team Cato Networks on the $50M series G extension and exciting new acquisition (see exits below)
- Kudos Guy Flechter and team Sola Security on raising a $35M Series A to develop develop customised cyber AI applications and agents!
- Way to go Bentzi Rabi and team Utila on your $22M series A extension (tripling the valuation in six months!) to provide a digital asset operations platform for enterprises dealing with stablecoins!
- Well done Guy Benromano and team LIGHTYX on your $11M series A to redraw construction layouts with lasers!
- Mazel tov Gil Peleg and team Geniez AI on securing a $6M seed round to bridge legacy mainframe infrastructure with modern AI without costly data migrations!
- Mabruk Maor Farid and team Leo AI on completing a $5M seed round to enable mechanical engineers to to connect directly with their CAD, PDM, and engineering data without compromising security!
EXITS
- Kudos Eyal Orion, MD and team Vectorious Medical Technologies on the $497M acquisition by Edwards Lifesciences for your for V-LAP heart failure monitoring technology!
- Big congrats Matan G. and team Aim Security on the $325M acquisition by Cato Networks for your advanced enterprise grade GenAI security platform!
- Well done Shir A. and team Firmus on the acquisition by Nemetschek Group estimated at tens of millions to construction risks!
- Kudos Amir Lehr and team Acclym (part of CropX) on the undisclosed acquisition by CropX for your Crop Supply Intelligence platform!
- Great news Asaf Lifshitz and team Sayata on your undisclosed acquisition by GBLI | Global Indemnity of your AI-powered commercial insurance platform.
APPOINTMENTS
- Kudos Gal Gitter ?? on joining Alpha Partners as partner to help Israeli GPs preserve early investors’ stakes as startups scale!
LINKS FOR YOUR BROWSER
VC CAFE / REMAGINE VENTURES
- Most of the startups we invest in at Remagine Ventures are in stealth mode. We’ve been very active this year but weren’t ready to share… however this week we added 3 new companies to our portfolio page – go check them out!
- Are you already a subscriber to my Reddit community r/startuplandscapes? this week I published a number of great ones: web3, voice AI, agentic co-workers, etc.
- To celebrate the launch of our latest GenAI Israeli landscape, we partnered with Google and are hosting an Israel GenAI Mixer for VC Partners and GenAI CEOs. If you fit the bill please DM me for an invite (spaces are limited, by invitation only).
ISRAEL
- Excellent new report by 97212 Ventures lists 640 Israeli startups based in New York, including 80 in stealth, a huge growth. The Times of Israel covered.
- Israeli startup funding in August 2025 is doubles from last year.
- Hemant Taneja founder of General Catalyst ($27 billion under management) was in Israel this week. This is what he had to say about investing in Israeli startups: “Israel is a really amazing country in that regard, where adversity only makes the entrepreneurs more resilient and more wanting to win. So, in some ways, when I talk to the founders here, I feel like they’re as determined as ever, if not more. The quality of what is being built today is as good as it ever was. If anything, you have a lot more problems and opportunities to address in the world. So, it’s actually a fertile time to be investing, and entrepreneurship is in the country’s blood here. It’s a very entrepreneurial culture overall.”
GLOBAL
- The Cloud 100 ranks the top 100 Cloud and AI companies by Bessemer Venture Partners
- America’s billionaires mapped in special project by The Wall Street Journal
- A.I. Is Coming for Culture – We’re used to algorithms guiding our choices. When machines can effortlessly generate the content we consume, though, what’s left for the human imagination? by The New Yorker
MEDIA OF THE WEEK
The growth of Israeli startups in New York, by 97212 Ventures (source)
The Voice AI market map by SIERRA Ventures (source)
The top consumer AI companies according to Headline (source)
And the top 100 AI Europe winners (source)
The estimated valuations of the top 10 Cloud 100 companies
and the total value of Cloud 100 companies exceeded $1.1 trillion, up 36% from last year (by Bessemer Venture Partners)
The landscape of GEO startups (generative engine optimisation) – by daphni (source)
The rise of computer use and Agentic AI co-workers – Computer-using agents mark a step-change beyond browser automation and RPA by Andreessen Horowitz (source)
The new normal in startups – less people, less funding – data by Carta
I’ve been enjoying playing with Google’s Nano Banana…
That’s all for this week. Thank you for tuning in.
There’s a lot to celebrate in our “small” community! Keep on creating!
