Ex-IDF Major General Giora Eiland raising $100M defense fund

Between his frequent television appearances, Maj. Gen. (res.) Giora Eiland has recently begun meeting with institutional investors in the U.S. and Israel. Calcalist has learned that Eiland is currently raising $100 million for a venture capital fund that will invest in companies in the defense sector.

Eiland recently joined as the third general partner (GP) of Champel Capital, an investment firm run by Swiss investors Arié Benguigui and Amir Weitmann. Within Champel, a new fund is now being launched under Eiland’s leadership that will focus on investments in defense companies. To support this effort, Eiland has added Yoav Har-Even, who served as CEO of Rafael until the end of 2024, and former police commissioner Kobi Shabtai to the fund’s advisory board. Another advisor is John Spencer, a U.S. Army officer and world-renowned expert in urban warfare.

Eiland, who previously served as head of the IDF’s Operations Directorate and Planning Directorate as well as head of Israel’s National Security Council, has been active in the defense industry for 18 years through his private company and Champel is hoping he’ll be able to leverage his strong ties with defense companies in Israel and abroad. Since leaving the IDF, Eiland has helped connect Israeli defense-tech startups with international investors. Now, both Eiland and Champel see two powerful trends: on one hand, surging demand for Israeli defense-tech firms following operational successes against Iran and new innovations emerging from the Gaza battlefield; on the other, many reservists returning with fresh ideas for cutting-edge technologies that need funding, connections, and guidance to work effectively with the Israeli and international defense sectors.

Sources familiar with the new fund say it will focus on less restricted areas such as OSINT (open-source intelligence) systems, which collect data from publicly available sources and are gaining renewed relevance amid the explosion of social networks and tighter European restrictions on offensive cyber companies. According to estimates, the fundraising round will close within two months, after which Eiland plans to start writing checks of $1–2 million each, targeting only companies that already have a working product and initial sales.

The fund already has commitments for part of its target amount, mainly from European and American investors, and Eiland is now starting to meet with institutional investors in Israel as well.

Eiland’s new fund joins a wave of Israeli VC funds launched since the October 7 attacks to harness fresh military know-how for economic success and to develop a new sector that could rival Israel’s thriving cyber industry. Earlier this week, Calcalist revealed the Kinetica fund, which is currently raising $150 million to invest in defense-tech companies and has also recruited several IDF veterans as partners, along with an advisory board made up of military leaders and figures from the U.S. security establishment.

Leading American funds are also stepping up their search for security-sector investments in Israel, led by Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia, the CIA’s venture arm, and LUX Capital, which has made its first Israeli investment since the war began.