"Israeli tech joined the generative AI game a little bit late, but is in a very good position to lead"

“The one thing I want to focus on is generative AI and LLMs (large language models). It came to our life as a surprise, but it's really changing the industry and it's really impacting the way startups are building and what they are building,” said Senior Associate at Pitango First, Aviv Barzilay, speaking to CTech during Calcalist’s Tech on the Beach event in Tel Aviv this week. “It's not something that is just here and will disappear soon.”

Pitango First is one of three parallel funds operated by Pitango, the largest VC fund in Israel. Pitango First focuses on early stage startups, investing in Seed and Series A rounds. The VC manages a diverse portfolio that includes several companies ranked on Calcalist’s list of the 50 most promising Israeli startups of 2023, including #2, AI21 Labs.

“I think we joined the game a little bit too late,” Barzilay says regarding generative AI in the Israeli tech ecosystem, “but one of our portfolio companies is AI21. We are very proud of them. They are a global player. And we think that they are a good example for Israeli entrepreneurs that are going really deep, trying to understand the problems and solve them with creative ideas. So, I think that although we are joining the game a little bit late, we are in a very good position to lead,” said Barzilay.

You can watch the full interview in the video above.