It’s #Firgun time!
The original version of Firgun was published on Linkedin. Subscriber to get the next edition in your inbox.
In case you’re new here, the word “Firgun” (Hebrew: ??????/ 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. In November #FIRGUN officially celebrated 5 years. See my update on what I’ve learned from writing Firgun and what keeps me going. I’m happy to share another milestone this week: it’s been 21 years (!) since I started my blog, https://www.vccafe.com.
This week’s edition is being sent from the big Apple. The “fear equation” finally broke in Iran as the people came out en-masse to the streets to demand a new future. In the meanwhile, 12,000+ Iranian people were reportedly killed as their regime attacked protestors with live fire. It’s baffling that there’s no demonstrations, protests or encampments on Harvard, Columbia or MIT demanding justice for their deaths….
The Israeli tech ecosystem had a massive 2025, and the latest Tech Review by IVC and LeumiTech proves it. Total exit value hit $17.7 billion, fueled by four mega-acquisitions in the insurance and fintech sectors, while total fundraising climbed 14% to reach $11 billion. It’s no surprise that Cybersecurity and GenAI were the stars of the show, accounting for the lion’s share of capital. Most encouragingly, the “startup nation” engine is still humming, with up to 800 new companies launching this year.
In the wider tech world, Google hit $4 trillion in market cap this week. The company officially released its Gemini Personal Intelligence features, enabling proactive, context-aware assistance for Pro users. Google also released TranslateGemma, a new collection of open translation models for 55 languages and at #NRF2026 Sundar Pichai announced a new agentic commerce protocol. OpenAI also released ChatGPT Translate, a new standalone translation tool supports over 50 languages and features AI-powered prompt customisation. Robotics software company Skild AI raised $1.4B Series C at $14B+ valuation. Conflict of interest? OpenAI invested in Sam Altman’s new brain-tech startup Merge Labs, pairing AI with non-invasive BCI research in a $252M round. The concentration in venture capital continued this week with Andreessen Horowitz raising a new $15 billion family of funds. That’s more than 18% of all venture capital dollars raised in the entire United States in 2025. Thinking Machines Lab, Mira Murati‘s AI company alleges that former fired CTO Barret Zoph shared confidential company information with competitors. He has joined OpenAI now. Berlin-based Parloa raised $350M at $3 billion valuation for AI customer support agents.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“The world has enough for everyone’s need, but not enough for everyone’s greed” – Ghandi
NEW FUNDING ROUNDS
- Well done Ofer Smadari and team Torq on raising $140M series D and new unicorn status (at $1.2 billion valuation) ?
- Big congrats Natan Linder and team Tulip Interfaces on securing $120M series D (at $1.3 billion valuation) to transform frontline operations in factories with human-centric AI! ?
- Impressive stuff Ido Geffen and team Novee Security on coming out of stealth with $51.5M in funding (8 months from inception) to scale AI penetration testing!
- Way to go Dov Gertz and team Converge Bio on securing a $25M series A for generative AI drug discovery!
- Mazel tov Edward Tsinovoi and team IO River on securing a $20M series A for a multi-CDN platform!
- Well done Sam Koekoek and team Klearly on raising a $14M series A for your restaurants payment platform!
- Mabruk Joseph Gertz and team Zeroport on your $10M seed round for your revolutionary non IP remote access solution!
EXITS
- Huge congratulations Ilan Yeshua and team Seraphic Security on the acquisition of your secure browser by CrowdStrike for a reported $400M!
- Kol ha kavod Daniel Meler and team InfiniGrow on the acquisition by Amplitude for an undisclosed sum!
- Kudos Yoav Ziv and team BLEND Localization on the merger with fellow Israeli startup tasq.ai!
- Well done Noam Katz and team CombinAble.AI on the acquisition by insitro for an undisclosed sum.
APPOINTMENTS
- Congratulations Sharon Seemann on joining Lama Partners as partner!
NEW FUNDS
- Congratulations Pini Orbach and team Arkin Capital on the new $100 million biotech fund focused on Israeli startups developing early clinical science
LINKS FOR YOUR BROWSER
VC CAFE / REMAGINE VENTURES
- AI is No Longer a Category, It’s the Entire Market – AI attracted 48% of all venture capital dollars in 2025. We have reached a tipping point where AI is no longer a vertical on a landscape map; it is the horizontal layer powering the entire startup ecosystem.
- Five steps for a happy life – by Dr. Arthur Brooks Make a routine. Get physical. Get metaphysical. Live with your grandchildren. And stop going to work dinners
- Shout out to Remagine Ventures potfolio company Munch which launched a new product that automates the entire social media operation process for SMBs and has seen huge growth in Q4. Check it out: https://www.munchstudio.com
ISRAEL
- The 2025 Tech Review by IVC Data and Insights and LeumiTech – Israeli tech companies raised $11 billion (428 deals) in 2025, a 14% increase compared with 2024. Fundraising peaked in Q4/2025 with $3.67 billion, the strongest quarterly result in three years.
- The state of the cyber nation 2025 – report by YL Ventures
- Israel channels $450 million into venture capital to support tech institutions and deeptech investment.
GLOBAL
- Top tech trends 2026 report by Capgemini
- 2026: this is AGI – thoughtful piece on the future of AI by Sequoia Capital partner Pat Grady
- 2026 Macro investment outlook by BlackRock
- Bonus: 2026 US Venture Capital outlook by PitchBook
MEDIA OF THE WEEK
Israeli Cybersecurity startups raised $5.1 billion in 2025 across 136 rounds.
The US leads the charts for VC funding per head thanks to surge in LLM investments – Israel ranks #3 (source)
AI investment reached 48% of all venture capital raised in 2025 (source: CB Insights)
AI Infrastructure landscape – Compute by Activant Capital was added to r/startuplandscapes community on Reddit, Inc. (source)
Global humanoid robot installs hit 16,000 in 2025, led by China’s AGIBOT (source)
What do people do for entertainment? TV and digital audio remain the largest categories of media consumption. Report on time spent on various forms of entertainment, by McKinsey & Company
Asset classes by returns – (source)
Food for thought…
That’s all for this week. Thanks for tuning in. There’s a lot to celebrate in our “small” community. Keep on creating!
Wishing everyone in Israel a peaceful weekend.
I'm a former general partner at google ventures, head of Google for Entrepreneurs in Europe and founding head of Campus London, Google's first physical hub for startups.
I'm also the founder of Techbikers, a non-profit bringing together the startup ecosystem on cycling challenges in support of Room to Read. Since inception in 2012 we've built 11 schools and 50 libraries in the developing world.
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