Weekly #FIRGUN Newsletter

It's #Firgun time!

Today is Valentine's day and a good reminder to celebrate the people we love.

The word "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". Firgun is all about genuinely feeling and expressing happiness, pride, or admiration for someone else's accomplishments, good fortune, or well-being. More about Firgun and why it matters on VC Cafe: https://lnkd.in/dg2a86p

The condition of the three male Israeli hos**ges released last week shocked the world. They've been starved and tortured physically and psychologically. There are still many held in the G**a tunnels, their fate unknown. We must #BRINGTHEMHOME NOW ???

A new report on the Israeli startup ecosystem (see links section below), suggests that 657 startups will need to secure funding soon, with 431 requiring immediate capital to survive.?The tech sector is vital for the Israeli economy and exports, and while the 2024 figures were more positive than expected, it's still hard for international investors to travel to Israel and get deals done. I believe that the Israeli tech sector will come out stronger from this crisis but it requires International investor support. That's why initiatives like Startup Nation Central, the Israel Export Institute ???? ????? and grassroots efforts like Israel Tech Mission are so important right now.

In the wider tech world, there's not a dull moment. In the AI action summit in France, US Vice President JD Vance warned against excessive AI regulation. Elon Musk made a bid to acquire OpenAI for $97.4 billion, and suggested he will withdraw his bid if the company returns to its non-for-profit status. Sam Altman responded that OpenAI is not for sale and hit back at Musk (see media of the week section below). TikTok was returned to the mobile app stores in the US. Ilya Sutskever, co-founder of OpenAI is in talk to raise billions for Safe Superintelligence Inc. at a value topping $20bn and opening the company's office in Tel Aviv. Apple is rumoured to launch a new iPhone in Feb and is exploring humanoid robots. Arm plans to launch a new AI chip this summer to compete with NVIDIA. YouTube Shorts adds Veo 2 to let creators make GenAI videos. Baidu, Inc. plans to open source its Ernie 4.5 AI model. Anthropic is said to develop “hybrid AI” model combining LLM, reasoning to take on OpenAI. Meta laid off around 5% of the workforce and got criticised for labelling employees as low performers.

Finally, Trump spoke with Putin and Zelensky and is going to work with both parties to negotiate an end to the war in Europe.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"True innovation comes from the same place as deep love - the courage to be vulnerable and the strength to persist when others doubt." - Steve Jobs

NEW FUNDING ROUNDS

• Congrats Ido Wiesenberg and team Voyantis on securing a $41M series B to support companies with AI driven marketing spend and revenue prediction!
• Kudos Roi Tiger on raising a rumoured $20M seed round for a new cybersecurity startup still in stealth!
• Mazel tov Avinoam Rubinstain and team Carrar on raising an $18M series B for for EV battery production line in Sderot, Israel!
• Well done Ouriel Ohayon ???? and team Zengo Wallet on raising a strategic, undisclosed series B to scale your crypto wallet!
• Mazel tov Ron Shafran and team FLYZ Robotics on securing an undisclosed seed round for a new sensor system revolutionising drone capabilities!

EXITS

No Israeli exits were recorded this week.

LINKS FOR YOUR BROWSER

ISRAEL

1. A new report on the Israeli startup ecosystem showed that Q4/24 emerged as one of the strongest fourth quarters in 5 years (excluding 2021), with funding rebounding to near Q4/22 levels, despite the war. Also, repeat founders are driving industry stability, securing 46% of total 2024 funding while leading only 31% of startups
2. Sender Cohen is leading an effort to raise $800M to create "Nevo Labs" in Israel, akin to Bell Labs back in the day to bring back top brains to Israel and help them combine AI with hard sciences.
3. AI startup Safe Superintelligence leases Tel Aviv offices
4. Bonus: eToro files for IPO

GLOBAL

1. The State of Venture 2024 by AngelList - A detailed look into venture performance throughout 2024, clarifying uncertain times and providing actionable data and candid analysis for GPs, LPs, and founders.
2. Who are the AI Agents at each line of the P&L? by Madrona
3. Interesting stat: about 10% of Y Combinator companies achieves an exit - by Lenny Rachitsky
4. Bonus: opening moves in global AI - report by Dealroom.co

MEDIA OF THE WEEK

The capital amount of M&As in the range of $100-$500m and $500-$1000m in Israel increased sharply, setting a decade record.

Early stage Israeli startups are in urgent need of funding, according to new report by Dealigence

generative AI is the second largest tech cluster in Israel, following Cybersecurity

10% of YCombinator startups exit

A snapshot of China's AI ecosystem by IMD

2024 had less, but larger rounds according to Carta data

However, startup M&A activity rises across all stages in 2024

CBInsights data showed 48% of U.S. seed-stage tech startups raised a second round, while 14% exited and 38% failed to raise

Here are the top-valued private LLM developers based on CB Insights data

This AI generated video fighting Antisemi**sm went viral following Ye's series of tweets and his move to sell an offensive t-shirt on his website. It was created by Guy Bar and Ori Bejerano , digital marketers for Israel-based creative agency Gitam BBDO

That's all for this week. There's so much to celebrate in our "small" community. Keep on creating.