Israeli Tech Startups Raise $775M Amid Conflict
Despite the escalating regional conflict, Israeli startups raised $775 million in February. The figure marks the tech sector's best fundraising month since 2022, underscoring the resilience of the country's innovation ecosystem and its continued ability to attract significant international capital.
The month's fundraising was dominated by early-stage investments, with 15 of the 16 deals being for Seed or Series A rounds. This indicates a continued investor appetite for new innovations and a robust pipeline of early-stage companies, even as later-stage funding has seen a global downturn. A standout deal in February was the $105 million raised by Exodigo, a company using AI for underground mapping. Other significant rounds included $24 million for visual generative AI platform BRIA, $16 million for deepfake detection firm Clarity, and $12 million for the generative AI English learning platform Loora. The resilience of the tech sector is particularly notable given the significant mobilization of its workforce for military reserve duty. High-tech workers, who make up about 10% of the Israeli population, have accounted for 20% of the army reservists, creating operational challenges for many companies. At the peak of the call-ups in October 2023, the tech sector experienced a 7% decline in work hours. In response to the security situation, there has been a notable surge in the defense-tech sector. The number of startups developing technologies with security and military applications has doubled between 2023 and 2024, with over 300 such ventures now active. Many of these new companies are being founded by reservists who have identified technological needs firsthand during their service.
