I spent just over 48 hours in Israel this week and left feeling optimistic. Away from the headlines, founders are building, investors are backing them, and Bank of America this week ranked Israel among the world's leading AI hubs. In this edition: why tokenmaxxing is the wrong metric, the biggest AI stories, funding rounds, exits and the wins worth celebrating across our "small" community.
Did you know that H1 2026 produced more Israeli unicorns than any other FULL year before? Also, what are the 5 areas most attractive for AI infrastructure according to Bessemer? and what is the hottest new AI category according to Benchmark?
Global venture funding hit a record $510 billion in H1, and Israeli startups raised $8.4 billion in this period. Don't miss this Special 4th of July edition!
Quote of the week:
If a problem has no solution, it may not be a problem, but a fact - not to be solved, but to be coped with over time.” - Shimon Peres
“The purpose of knowledge is not knowledge itself, but what it leads us to do.” — The Lubavitcher Rebbe
It’s #Firgun time! The original version of Firgun was published on Linkedin. Subscribe to get the next one in your inbox. Firgun (pronounced ‘feer-goon’) is an Israeli term describing genuine, unselfish joy in someone else’s success… It’s basically the opposite…
It was a week of contradictions: Israeli startups raised over a billion this week and created $2.5B in exits alone, but over 60% of tech companies announced layoffs in recent months.
Firgun crossed 8,000 subscribers this past week.
In May, global tech layoffs surpassed the 100,000 mark, and the trend is also hard to ignore in Israel, with multiple companies announcing layoffs as a result of a weak US dollar and AI automation
A 5 month old cyber AI startup acquired for $50M, mega round for Decart at $4 billion valuation and big news from the wider tech world.
The latest news on Israeli tech and venture, including a new AI/Cyber fund, a new Israeli Partner (and former founder) joining Andreessen Horowitz to focus on AI infrastructure
Weekly Firgun Newsletter
Join founders and investors reading the weekly Firgun newsletter by Eze Vidra.
