We hope you are all safe during these challenging times.
A few weeks ago, we held our second annual Fusion Pre-Seed Conference, with 120 startup teams joining us at the
Google for Startups Israel
Campus in Tel Aviv (out of more than 600 teams that applied). Attendees had a chance to hear from leading investors, seasoned founders, and other movers and shakers of Israeli tech.
Here are our key takeaways from the event:
- Uncertainty is also an opportunity. While it’s become a cliché to talk about “uncertain times”, it’s also true that the last year has brought uncertainty to a whole new level – and we’re seeing more of the unexpected happening in the last few weeks. Investors who spoke at the conference, including
Roni Bonjack
ck of at.inc and
Shahar Tzafrir
r of
TLV Partners
, highlighted the ways in which turbulent times bring out the best in founding teams, who have to learn to work together through adversity; it also brings the most passionate teams to the table, helping to build stronger companies in the long run.
- Fundraising. Is it harder to get funded in 2024 compared to 2021?
Asaf Horesh
of
Vintage Investment Partners
noted that there’s still plenty of ‘dry powder’ (VC money waiting to be deployed)? for earlier rounds; however, things have gotten more challenging in later rounds (A round and beyond). While there’s still money to invest, Asaf mentioned that many?VCs have adopted a sit-and-wait approach, trying to suss out the direction of travel (in markets, their portfolio, and deal flow) before exhausting the fund. With more founders fighting for less capital, high-quality execution is non-negotiable. Only the top 0.01% of teams are getting funded as?an idea-only venture; the rest should have strong metrics, even at the pre-seed/seed stage.
- Validation. We heard plenty of interesting insights into how to raise a Seed round and beyond. The main theme here was that validation has to be more than a box-ticking exercise.
Liron Azrielant
of
Meron Capital
noted that entrepreneurs should talk to 50-70 potential customers in order to validate their ideas; while competitive analysis can’t be just sticking a few logos on an axis and putting yourself up and to the right. investors expect to see a deeper, more realistic, and better-researched level of market insight.
There were many great conversations and discussions at the conference, with a ton of energy in the room. At the end of the day, the spirit of Israeli innovation cannot be held back – and it was certainly Felt in the room.?
We hope to see more of you at the Fusion Pre-Seed Conference 2025, and Shana Tova to all. ?
