CTalk
“Israeli founders, even with reserve duty disruptions, managed to outperform expectations”
Oded Hermoni, Managing Partner at J-Ventures, shared insights into the firm’s unique approach to venture capital and the evolving investment climate in Israeli tech.
J-Ventures, which Hermoni describes as a “capitalist kibbutz,” connects American Jews and Israelis through investment. The firm boasts a network of 500 investors across 40 Jewish communities worldwide, with a strong presence in Silicon Valley. It has become one of Israel’s most active foreign investors, backing early-stage companies across sectors such as cybersecurity, AI, SaaS, and health tech.
Despite geopolitical challenges, Israeli startups have demonstrated remarkable resilience. “The expectations after October 7 were of a complete disaster,” said Hermoni when speaking to CTech at Calcalist’s Mind The Tech conference in New York. “But Israeli founders, even with reserve duty disruptions, managed to outperform expectations, with some companies growing by more than 100-200%.”
Hermoni also co-led a delegation of foreign investors to Israel with Israel Tech Mission, where they were struck by both the innovation landscape and the disconnect between the government and its citizens. “They said something that was shocking… For the first time, Silicon Valley investors said they felt Israel was six months ahead of them,” he noted.
You can watch the entire exchange in the video above.
