Weekly #FIRGUN Newsletter

It's?#Firgun?time!

As every Friday, it's my pleasure to share a weekly summary of the movers and shakers in Israeli tech and venture. Please note: this NEW Linkedin Firgun newsletter replaced my previous mailchimp/ social post. Hit "subscribe" to get it straight into your inbox next week!

"Firgun" (Hebrew: ??????/ pronounced 'feer-goon') is an informal modern Hebrew term and concept in Israeli culture (originally Yiddish), which describes genuine, unselfish delight or pride in the accomplishment of the other person. It's the opposite of schadenfreude. More about Firgun and why it matters on?VC Cafe:?https://lnkd.in/dg2a86p

-- It's been another eventful week in the markets. Meta laid off 11,000 people, Twitter 3,500, and FTX imploded, losing investors $2 billion. Several Israeli startups announced layoffs including Wandz.ai (Formerly Namogoo) , TOYGA ,

With that said, early stage startups continue to raise.

NEW INVESTMENT ROUNDS

- Congratulations Dan Amiga and team Island on the additional $60 million series B extension for your secure enterprise browser!

- Mabruk Aharon Horwitz and team Fullpath on your $40 million series A to develop automation technology for auto-dealerships and manufacturers!

- Well done Yaron Ravkaie and team Teridion on the $25 million strategic round to provide multi cloud secure WAN connectivity solutions!

- Kudos Gil Don and team Wib on raising a $16M series B for your API security platform!

- Amazing job Adi Dagan and team Everybuddy Games on securing a $15 million series A to build on the success of Lucky Buddies with?more premium casual mobile games!

- Great news Adi Ikan and team VERITI on your newly raised $12 million series A to continually identify and remediate security gaps and misconfigurations across the entire infrastructure!

- Awesome milestone Adi Dagan and team Everybuddy Games on securing a $15 million series A to build on the success of Lucky Buddies with?more premium casual mobile games!

- Mazel tov Daniel Keyes and team Sepana on raising a $10 million series A to make web3 content such as DAOs and NFTs more discoverable through your decentralised search tooling!

- Kol hakavod Avinoam Barak and team Carteav on your $6.5 million seed round to develop self-driving, low-speed vehicles along with software and services to manage them!

- Way to go Sagi Maman and team Xternity on your $4.5 million seed round to develop web3 gaming infrastructure!

EXITS

- Congratulations Asaf Nevo and team Pico · Get Personal (Acquired by Infront) , developer of fan-driven marketing software for clubs, on the acquisition by Infront Sports & Media AG

APPOINTMENTS

- Big congrats Juriaan Duizendstraal on being appointed partner at Index Ventures based in Israel! I'm looking forward to our first deal together with Remagine Ventures !

- Well done Zohar Dayan for being appointed as SVP Video products at Vimeo - they got the right person for the job!

- Kudos Tomer Dvir on joining the investment team at Key1 Capital !

THREE LINKS

1. Generative AI will really take off when it goes from 'playful' to 'useful' - New post by me on VC Cafe (also check out this post in case you've missed it!)
2. Hard Reset or, how not to drive your startup off a cliff by Sarah Guo
3. Venture funds are still seeking access to startups, which have outperformed other asset classes during recessions - on The Wall Street Journal

CHART(s) OF THE WEEK

As of Oct 2022, there are 1,191 unicorn companies globally. Big concentration in health and fintech. Most will need to raise money soon. Next rounds will be tough for many.

Check out all the $1B+ startup landscape in one infographic by CB Insights : https://www.cbinsights.com/research/unicorn-startup-market-map/

There's so much to celebrate in our "small" community! Keep on creating!

Eze

#tech #vc #startups #venturecapital #israel #startupnation #innovation