Surround Ventures

🚀 Excited to announce the first closing of Surround Ventures II We are proud to launch Surround Ventures II, a $50M Israeli-American early-stage venture capital fund, focused on deep-tech and defense-tech startups addressing some of the world’s most critical and strategically important challenges. Surround Ventures operates at the intersection of the two primary sources of deep-tech innovation in Israel - the IDF’s elite technology units and leading academic institutions - combining differentiated early access to exceptional founders with a proven ability to support companies globally through business development and strategic positioning. The fund is led by Yaron Kniajer, Jared Kash, and Haim Zilbershats, and is backed by strategic investors and leading entrepreneurs. It has also been selected for the Israel Innovation Authority רשות החדשנות’s highly selective Deep Tech Venture Capital Program, aimed at accelerating Israeli deep-tech innovation through strategic venture capital investment. ‏Surround’s Advisory Board includes Prof. Daniel Zajfman, former President of the Weizmann Institute of Science, Yaniv Garty, former CEO of Intel Israel, Marc Beckman and Nir Shimoni. Fund II builds on the momentum and successes of our first fund, including early investments in companies such as XTEND, which recently announced a ~$1.5B merger with a publicly traded company. and QuamCore, which raised $35M and is advancing next-generation quantum computing architectures. The fund is already actively investing across sectors such as defense, AI infrastructure, biotechnology, and energy. We are grateful to the founders who chose us, the investors who backed us, and the advisors who work alongside us - together, we are setting out to build the next generation of global-scale, breakthrough deep-tech companies - from Israel to the world. 🚀🇮🇱🇺🇸🌍 Peter Kash | FISCHER (FBC & Co.); Formerly Fischer Behar Chen Well Orion & Co | PwC Israel | EY | Made Finance https://lnkd.in/du4USjcV

Today marks a special day for a special team and a special company. Aviv Shapira, Rubi Liani, Matteo Shapira, Mor Swiel, and Tal Horesh are showing that it is very much possible to build a company that has meaningful global impact while also building a strong and successful business. This is also an important milestone for us as a fund. XTEND was one of our earliest investments and played a key role in sharpening our focus on deep tech startups across some of the most critical sectors in the world such as defense. We are grateful for the opportunity to be part of this journey and are looking forward to what comes next. Yaron Kniajer Jared Kash Haim Zilbershats Peter Kash https://lnkd.in/d9fTC5e7

QuamCore is hiring! A real opportunity to join a groundbreaking company driving a true quantum computing revolution.

We are excited to join the annual Poalim Tech roadshow+ with Calcalist כלכליסט and are looking forward to meeting ambitious early-stage entrepreneurs, hearing about their ideas, and doing our best to provide meaningful feedback. Yaron Kniajer Jared Kash Haim Zilbershats link to registration: https://lnkd.in/dbuwdftC

QuamCore, our portfolio company, continues its exciting journey to build the world’s first 1-million-qubit quantum computer. The company has just raised a significant round to accelerate toward that goal. Welcome Sentinel Global (Dror Sharon) and Arkin Capital (Nir Arkin, Ori Amsalem) - thrilled to have you join the journey. Congrats to Alon Cohen, Serge Rosenblum, Shay Hacohen-Gourgy, Eby G. Friedman, and the entire amazing QuamCore team – and to our great partners: Viola Ventures (Zvika Orron), Earth & Beyond Ventures (Doron Zauer, Assaf Wise), Rhodium (Daniel Recanati, Chen Klimor), Qubit Ventures, Israel Innovation Authority (Hanan Brand) Surround Ventures | Yaron Kniajer | Jared Kash | Haim Zilbershats https://lnkd.in/eu2hX3f4

At Surround, we feel truly fortunate when we get the opportunity to partner with entrepreneurs who are reshaping sectors, driving real change in the world, and building large, meaningful companies. Aviv Shapira, Rubi Liani, Matteo Shapira, Peter Kash and the entire relentless team at XTEND - kudos on the journey so far and congratulations on the latest financing round, an important step forward in your mission to build a world leader in the ever-important defense sector. 📰 Welcome aboard Aliya Capital Partners. More on the round: https://lnkd.in/eSTfYC5t 🎥 Here’s what that looks like: https://lnkd.in/dfPmUgZk Protego Ventures | Claltech | Union Tech Ventures | Chartered Group | TAU Ventures

Excellent new report from our friends and partners at Earth & Beyond Ventures on the state of quantum computing in Israel. Clear, insightful, and highly relevant for anyone who, like us at Surround Ventures, believes quantum is one of the most important and fascinating technologies of the coming decade.

Proud of our portfolio company XTEND on this exciting milestone – congrats to Aviv and the team! Aviv Shapira Peter Kash Yaron Kniajer Jared Kash Haim Zilbershats

Einstein is often credited with saying that if you can’t explain something to a ten-year-old, you probably don’t understand it yourself. The same goes for explaining it to a VC. When we first met Shay, Alon, and Serge in 2024, they did exactly that — making their vision for QuamCore and its role in the future of quantum computing both clear and compelling. Thanks to that, we saw the huge potential of the opportunity — and invested. Highly recommended talk with Shay Hacohen-Gourgy QuamCore’s co-founder and CTO, for anyone as excited about the quantum revolution as we are. https://lnkd.in/eyWhin4S

We were happy to host, as part of a visit organized by Zeke Fraint, Fresh Fund and together with our friends and partners from Goldratt Consulting a delegation of leading U.S. and European VCs focused on defense tech at the Surround Ventures offices. During the visit, the investors were introduced to exceptional Israeli defense tech startups – including XTEND (a portfolio company), R2 Wireless, @hystrix, and Shifters. It was a great opportunity to connect international investors with cutting-edge Israeli innovation and to showcase the strength of our local deffense tech ecosystem. A big thank you to Zeke Fraint from #202Ventures, Naor Caspi and Zaki Djemal from Fresh Fund and Rami Goldratt from Goldratt Consulting for making this happen — and to all the founders and investors who took part in such a meaningful and energizing event. #defensetech #dualuse #startups #venturecapital #IsraelTech #SurroundVentures #innovation Peter Kash Yaron Kniajer Jared Kash Haim Zilbershats