Omri Kohl

I added the new Israeli Proptech startup landscape by TLV Partners to my 2025 collection on VC Cafe. There are over 200+ Israeli startups operating in the proptech sector (including a number of unicorns). The new crop of AI-first startups are penetrating every layer of the tech stack - from elevating the tenant experience and enabling predictive maintenance, to construction site monitoring and delivering AI-driven infrastructure insights. Link to the CTech by Calcalist article with the commentary below.

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Our partner Raz Mangel sat down with CTech by Calcalist to share our trends for 2026, and while the conversation covered everything from deep tech to AI infrastructure, one theme cuts through it all: Israeli companies are mastering the discipline of scaling. For years, the Israeli tech narrative centered on innovation. But what's changing now, and what global LPs are increasingly excited about, is the pairing of that innovation with systematic go-to-market execution. We're seeing it firsthand: multiple Greenfield portfolio companies that were at single-digit ARR when we invested are now approaching or crossing $100M+ ARR with line of sight to $1B. This didn't happen by accident. It's the result of implementing the right operational frameworks early - what we call the Seven Pillars of Efficient Growth: Strategy, Operational Framework, People, Pipeline, Sales Process, Partnerships, and Account Management. Our G²M Excellence program exists to help companies build this GTM infrastructure from the start, avoiding costly cycles and enabling the rapid yet efficient growth required to reach sustainable scale. This year, whether it's deep tech, AI infra, or cyber, the companies that will define Israel's next decade won't just build great technology. They'll build enduring global businesses with the go-to-market muscle to match their technical depth. Read Greenfield Partners full trends and predictions for 2026 in the comments:

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Most startup stories begin with the exit. This one begins with a shutdown. Most founder stories start with the win. This one starts with the wrong bet. It began inside The Zell Entrepreneurship Program at Reichman University, where Or Briga met the co-founder who would define the next eight years of his life, alongside Shai Arnon, also a Zell grad, and unknowingly lay the groundwork for both failure and reinvention.  In 2019, eSports was exploding. The narrative felt obvious: build the largest online training platform and academy for competitive gamers.  So they built NOVOS games - a data-driven training platform for gamers. Six years. $7M raised. A category built from scratch. Their first investor? A Zell mentor who backed them the moment they graduated. Then reality intervened. The market didn’t mature the way everyone predicted. Adoption stalled. Growth slowed. And eventually they faced the hardest founder truth there is: the hypothesis was wrong. So they did the rare thing: 𖧹 They shut the company down. 𖧹 Returned the remaining capital. 𖧹 And asked the terrifying question: what now? What survived wasn’t the product - it was the partnership. Instead of walking away, they doubled down on what actually worked. That customer came from a conversation with SuperPlay’s CEO, who offered to be their first buyer if they built better payments infrastructure for direct-to-consumer gaming. 𖧹 They moved fast. 𖧹 Didn’t raise capital. 𖧹 Built with scars instead of slides. Within a year, Galleon (acquired by Stash) was processing hundreds of millions annually. And recently, it was acquired by Stash. The speed wasn’t luck. It was compound learning. And Or is clear about one thing: the second company only exists because the first one failed. That’s the part of founder stories we should talk about more. - - - - - - What lesson from a “failed” chapter ended up being the foundation for your next win? Ori Schnitzer Naomi Scheinman Liraz Sharabani Reichman University Reichman University Alumni Association American Friends of Reichman University (IDC) American Friends of Reichman University (IDC Herzliya)

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Today, I had the opportunity to join the panel at the Israel Economic Conference by Bizportal & GHContent to discuss the future of Israeli tech and the role of AI, together with Hanan Brand, Eldad Tamir, and Matan Hodorov. We focused on how AI is fundamentally reshaping the way teams work. At Salesforce, AI agents are already part of our daily workflows, helping engineers, product managers and designers to move faster, think bigger, and build better products. It’s more than just adding tools; it’s a new operational model for creating products and delivering value. This shift is accelerating across the country. Even as a small market, the Israeli ecosystem is rapidly moving toward AI-driven innovation - from established players to startups, companies redefining themselves around AI adoption. Our commitment to this momentum is clear. Salesforce sees its AI R&D hub in Israel as one of its three strategic hubs globally, a position we've strengthened over the past two years through local acquisitions and ongoing investment in talent and startups via Salesforce Ventures. It was truly great to share these insights and feel the incredible drive across the ecosystem toward meaningful AI investment and impact.

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You don’t win a city-wide project on the strength of just one feature. You win it by proving you've got everything they need, and that you can run an entire city as one system. Tel Aviv issued an RFP to all major vendors and after a lengthy review, they selected the TIBA X60 hardware line together with the SPARK Parking Platform as the backbone for modernizing their municipal parking network. The scope is significant. More than 60 garages, with new facilities added each year. The project includes: ✅ Upgrading hardware city-wide ✅ Modernizing the command center ✅ Migrating the entire operation to SPARK ✅ Customized developments, deep software integrations, and strict IT-security compliance A city of this scale can’t rely on disconnected tools. They need a unified, resilient ecosystem — one platform, consistent operations, predictable performance, and room to grow. SPARK was built precisely for environments where real-time visibility, reliability, and seamless expansion aren’t “nice to have” but mandatory for future-proofing, growing cities like TLV. And we’re just getting started. #tiba #parking #smartcities #mobility #parkingtechnology

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“The system is broken.” We keep chasing $100B valuations like it’s the norm. Said it last week, but it’s worth repeating, because let’s be honest… most of its paper. It’s not ARR driving these numbers. It’s hyper-funding rounds, inflated expectations, and a complete lack of liquidity. You’ve got companies that once hit $20B, now worth $600M. Others get acquired for $700M and then shut down within a year. And when you get to those inflated valuations, you're trapped: You can't exit. You’re not growing. You’re not liquid. You’re just stuck. The irony? Some of the smartest teams today are not raising massive rounds: → They're lean. → They’re keeping equity. → And they’re building actual businesses. So how are we going to get to $100B valuations off tiny teams, no revenue, and broken exits? You can’t. VCs are under pressure. LPs want liquidity. But IPOs are rare, private equity isn’t always interested, and secondaries, well, let’s be real… not a real solution for everyone. The system is overdue for change. Until then, we need to stop worshipping empty valuations. What’s one thing you would change about how we fund and value startups today? (Shout out to Ophir Reshef, Partner at the ISF Israel Secondary Fund for this insightful op-ed in Calcalist כלכליסט CTech by Calcalist) https://lnkd.in/egNMd6nG

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I was recently asked by Walla to share a tip for early-stage entrepreneurs, as part of an article featuring 10 commandments from experienced founders.  Here’s what I shared: 💡 Focus on a real, significant problem – one that’s worth the startup journey. Entrepreneurship is a demanding, long, and sometimes exhausting journey. To stick with it over time, you need to know why you’re getting out of bed in the morning – and most importantly, what problem you’re determined to solve. Don’t fall in love with technology or a cool idea. Fall in love with a real, meaningful problem - one that affects many people or organizations and echoes across a large market. Only a solution that delivers real value to a painful problem will attract customers, employees, and investors - and keep you going as a founder. The deeper the problem and the more precise your solution, the more likely you are to create real impact – not just a nice product. A strong startup doesn’t begin with a brilliant idea, but with a sharp understanding of an unmet need that can’t be ignored. Read more insights from 10 seasoned founders in the full Walla article (in Hebrew). https://lnkd.in/dguTRyHG

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🚀 Huge milestone for Israeli tech! 🇮🇱 ServiceNow is acquiring cybersecurity leader Armis in a $7.75B all-cash deal, marking one of the biggest exits in Israel’s tech ecosystem and a major leap forward in enterprise security. 🔐💼 This strategic move significantly expands ServiceNow’s footprint in cyber exposure and risk management across IT, OT and connected devices, while empowering Armis’ talented team to scale even further. 👏🌍 #Cybersecurity #TechNews #Israel #Innovation #MergersAndAcquisitions https://lnkd.in/gRb6cEMb

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