Technology news
Bennett Calls AI Israel's Next Security Front
Naftali Bennett used a 103FM interview, reported by JPost at 14:46 IDT, to argue that AI has become national-security infrastructure, comparable less to ordinary software than to electricity. He said Israel must secure capabilities across AI, cyber, chips, energy, data centers and defense technology, with government responsibility at every layer and AI tutoring for every child. The remarks extend a campaign AI platform he had already built through an advisory committee and earlier top-three-by-2030 goals. For Israel, the point is strategic independence against Iran and other threats: allies should need Israeli innovation, and enemies should fear Israeli initiative.
Primary:Updated as of July 2, 20261Secondary:Updated as of July 2, 2026234Nexar and Nauto Merge Into Physical AI Driving Platform
Israeli-founded Nexar and U.S. fleet-safety company Nauto said they signed a definitive agreement to merge, creating an independent infrastructure platform for Physical AI. The companies say the combined platform will process more than 300 million real-world driving miles each month across over 50 countries, with a history exceeding 10 billion miles. Nexar CEO Zach Greenberger will lead the combined company, while Nauto founder Stefan Heck will chair the board, and financial terms were not disclosed. The story is a reminder that Israeli mobility technology remains part of the global AI stack, turning road data into safer transport, insurance and autonomous-systems tools.
Primary:Updated as of July 2, 2026123Secondary:Updated as of July 2, 20264567Israeli High-Tech Raises $7.6B in First Half of 2026
Israel's high-tech sector raised $7.6 billion in the first half of 2026, according to preliminary IVC-LeumiTech data reported by Globes and Bizportal, a 52% jump from the same period last year despite war pressure and investor caution. Globes says Q2 brought $4.2 billion across just 97 deals, showing capital is flowing into fewer, larger companies; cyber led with $2.57 billion, while defense tech, space and quantum together drew $846 million. Globes English's monthly tracker gives a higher first-half startup total of $8.45 billion after a $3.3 billion June. The figures show Israeli innovation remains a strategic national asset, but young firms need policy stability, talent and capital.
Secondary:Updated as of July 2, 2026123US Marines Deploy Iron Dome-Based MRIC in Guam
U.S. Marines deployed and evaluated the Iron Dome-derived Medium-Range Intercept Capability system at Mason Range in Guam during Valiant Shield 2026, putting Israeli air-defense technology into a Pacific deterrence drill. DVIDS confirms III MEF Marines calibrated MRIC equipment there on June 24 in support of Valiant Shield, while JPost, JNS and DefenseScoop identify the trailer-mounted system as using Rafael's Iron Dome technology and SkyHunter, the American Tamir variant. The platform is built to defeat cruise missiles, drones and other aerial threats. For Israel, the Guam test is more than an export story: battle-proven Israeli defense engineering is helping allies close gaps against China and other missile powers.
Primary:Updated as of July 2, 20261Secondary:Updated as of July 2, 2026234Qualcomm Buys Israeli Cyber Firm SAM Seamless Network
Qualcomm is buying Israeli cybersecurity company SAM Seamless Network, a Tel Aviv firm that protects home, small-business and telecom networks at the edge. CTech says the deal is worth more than $150 million, while Globes says Qualcomm will pay more than $100 million; a Qualcomm executive's LinkedIn statement says SAM is now part of Qualcomm and will strengthen its Connectivity, Broadband and Networking portfolio. CTech and Globes report SAM's software protects more than 500 million connected devices across more than 15 million networks, including customers such as AT&T, Verizon, Bezeq and European providers. The acquisition shows Israeli cyber talent staying strategically relevant as connected devices and AI move more security work from data centers to homes and networks.
Primary:Updated as of July 2, 20261Secondary:Updated as of July 2, 202623Aligned Raises $60M to Automate B2B Sales Workflows
Aligned, the Israeli AI B2B sales workspace, raised a $60 million Series B led by PeakSpan Capital with existing investors Hetz Ventures, JAL Ventures and NFX participating. CTech reports the round lifts total funding to $73.8 million as Aligned builds AI agents that manage complex sales transactions from first call to close, cutting deal friction for customers such as Deel, Similarweb and WordPress. The story is another sign that Israeli enterprise software is moving from dashboards to operational agents that actually do the work.
Secondary:Updated as of July 2, 20261Esh-Tech Raises $18M for Counter-Drone Laser
Omer-based defense-tech startup Esh-Tech raised $18 million led by Kinetica Partners to move its DroneLight pulsed-laser counter-drone system toward large-scale production. Jerusalem Post reports the funding is backed by investors including Mahari, Renaton Capital, Q Fund, 2i Ventures, Hinkley, FFG and the Israel Innovation Authority, and follows successful operational testing under real-world conditions. With Hezbollah drones straining northern defenses, the round strengthens Israel's push for cheaper, domestic interception layers.
Secondary:Updated as of July 2, 20261Innovation Authority Raises Deep-Tech Startup Grant Ceilings
Israel's Innovation Authority expanded its Startup Fund support for early deep-tech companies, raising the maximum participation to NIS 2 million at pre-seed and NIS 6 million at seed. Jerusalem Post reports the move is designed to give young science and engineering startups more runway before commercial viability, with higher ceilings for National Priority Area A and under-represented founders. The policy matters because Israel's next technology edge will come from hard fields such as semiconductors, energy, biotech, defense and advanced hardware.
Secondary:Updated as of July 2, 20261Baz Raises $9M and Launches Planner for AI Code
Israeli AI software startup Baz raised an additional $9 million seed extension, bringing total financing to $17 million, and introduced Baz Planner to catch software bugs and security flaws before code is written. CTech reports Battery Ventures and boldstart ventures co-led the round with AFG Partners and Disruptive VC joining. Founder Guy Eisenkot built Baz after Bridgecrew's sale to Palo Alto Networks and extended reserve duty in Unit 8200, turning wartime resilience into a product for governing AI-generated software.
Secondary:Updated as of July 2, 20261Arato Raises $10M for AI Product Testing Simulations
Arato raised a $10 million seed round led by TLV Partners to test AI systems through large-scale user simulations. CTech reports the Israeli startup learns how an organization's AI implementation behaves and generates thousands of scenarios across text, voice, images and business data without requiring code access. The company shows a practical Israeli answer to an urgent global problem: AI products are moving faster than conventional quality assurance can safely validate.
Secondary:Updated as of July 2, 20261Lama AI Raises $12M for Banking AI Agents
Lama AI raised a $12 million Series A led by EJF Ventures, pushing total funding above $20 million as it expands lending automation for U.S. banks. CTech reports the Israeli fintech is bringing AI agents into banking workflows where compliance, underwriting and customer response speed all matter. The round shows Israel's AI strength extending beyond security into regulated financial infrastructure.
Secondary:Updated as of July 2, 20261AppsFlyer Raises Over $1B From Google, Meta, Unity and Moloco
Israeli-founded AppsFlyer raised more than $1 billion from Google, Meta, Unity and Moloco at a $2.7 billion valuation. CTech reports the deal is meant to accelerate AI-powered measurement and attribution tools and marks a valuation increase from AppsFlyer's 2020 round. The scale of the round underscores how Israeli software companies can still become global infrastructure for digital markets, not just acquisition targets.
Secondary:Updated as of July 2, 20261Tenet Raises $6M to Secure Autonomous AI Agents
Tenet raised $6 million in seed funding to protect autonomous AI agents at runtime as they access sensitive data and workflows. CTech reports the Israeli startup is focused on a new security category created by agentic systems acting inside enterprise environments. The bet is tightly aligned with Israel's cyber tradition: secure the next compute layer before attackers industrialize it.
Secondary:Updated as of July 2, 20261Limitless Labs Raises $20M to Put AI on Factory Floors
Limitless Labs raised a $20 million Series A to automate CNC manufacturing workflows with AI. CTech reports the Israeli startup is targeting factory-floor processes rather than another cloud-only software niche. The round belongs to a larger Israeli deep-tech shift: AI is becoming a physical productivity tool for industry, hardware and supply chains.
Secondary:Updated as of July 2, 20261Kimba Raises $6.5M for AI-Guided Sleep Therapy
Kimba raised $6.5 million to use AI and personalized scent therapy to improve sleep quality and recovery. CTech reports the Israeli startup was founded by a former Oketz soldier after PTSD and years of insomnia, with Selva Ventures leading the round. The company turns an Israeli service and recovery story into a broader health-tech product aimed at daily human resilience.
Secondary:Updated as of July 2, 20261NewCore Emerges With $66M for Identity Security
One-year-old Israeli cybersecurity startup NewCore came out of stealth with $66 million raised and a reported $300 million valuation. CTech reports the company was founded by Dome9 co-founder Zohar Alon, Nym founder Amihai Neiderman and former T-Mobile and Telstra CIO Erez Yarkoni to rebuild identity security for the AI era. The round reinforces Israel's position at the center of the identity-security fight as AI expands enterprise access risk.
Secondary:Updated as of July 2, 20261Upriver Raises $10M for Enterprise Data AI Agents
Upriver raised $10 million led by Valley Capital Partners to build AI agents that autonomously manage enterprise data. CTech reports the Israeli startup was founded by Talpiot graduates and Israel Defense Prize winners Ido Bronstein and Omri Lifshitz, with support from Cyera founders and New Relic creator Lew Cirne. The backing links elite Israeli defense training, data infrastructure and the next generation of enterprise automation.
Secondary:Updated as of July 2, 20261Cyera Raises $600M at $12B Valuation
Israeli cybersecurity company Cyera raised $600 million at a $12 billion valuation, bringing its funding to more than $2 billion and lifting its value fourfold in 18 months. CTech reports Evolution Equity Partners led the round with Cyberstarts, Temasek and existing investors including Accel, AT&T Ventures, Blackstone, Coatue and Spark Capital. Cyera's surge shows that Israeli data security has become core infrastructure for companies trying to adopt AI without losing control.
Secondary:Updated as of July 2, 20261Aryon Security Raises $25M for Cloud Threat Prevention
Aryon Security raised a $25 million Series A, bringing total funding to $38 million since its late-2024 founding. CTech reports Brightmind Partners and Shlomo Kramer's Skinos Ventures led the round, with Datadog Ventures, CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz and Armis founders among the backers. The Israeli startup argues that cloud security must move beyond detect-and-fix into earlier prevention as AI accelerates attacker speed.
Secondary:Updated as of July 2, 20261Pi Emerges With $35M for Cross-Surface Threat Analysis
Pi emerged from stealth with $35 million to analyze code, cloud infrastructure and workplace communications so security teams can identify real threats rather than chase noise. CTech reports the company is led by former Microsoft and Tesla security leaders. The story fits Israel's broader cyber advantage: founders are building tools that understand how attacks move across the entire organization, not just one dashboard.
Secondary:Updated as of July 2, 20261Jedify Raises $24M for Enterprise AI Context Layer
Jedify raised a $24 million Series A to build a context layer for enterprise AI. CTech reports the Israeli startup says fragmented business data is blocking deployment of agentic systems inside companies. The round points to a central Israeli technology theme in 2026: AI value depends on clean, permissioned, usable organizational context.
Secondary:Updated as of July 2, 20261Rylo Raises $85M for Real-Time Accessibility Translation
Rylo, formerly Nagish, raised $85 million at a $500 million valuation while targeting $1 billion in revenue by 2028. CTech reports the Israeli startup develops AI-powered real-time speech and sign-language translation for deaf and hard-of-hearing users and reached early profitability after FCC licensing opened regulated U.S. revenue. The company is a strong example of Israeli AI serving human dignity as well as scale.
Secondary:Updated as of July 2, 20261A Security Raises $37M for Autonomous Cyber Defense
A Security raised $37 million across seed and Series A rounds led by Cyberstarts and Lightspeed, with backing from Wiz CEO Assaf Rappaport and Cyera CEO Yotam Segev. CTech reports the Israeli startup is building AI agents that detect, simulate and block autonomous cyberattacks before they hit enterprise networks. The round shows the Wiz-Cyera generation reinvesting into the next wave of Israeli cyber founders.
Secondary:Updated as of July 2, 20261PointFive Raises $60M to Control AI Infrastructure Costs
PointFive raised a $60 million Series B backed by Index Ventures, Salesforce Ventures and Accel to help companies manage exploding AI infrastructure spending. CTech reports the Israeli company was founded by former IntSights executives and is building a platform for cloud and AI cost visibility. As AI bills become board-level risks, Israeli infrastructure software is moving into the CFO's field of vision.
Secondary:Updated as of July 2, 20261Honeycomb Raises $40M for AI-Driven Insurance Underwriting
Israeli-founded insurtech Honeycomb raised $40 million as its digital insurance model gains momentum. CTech reports the company expanded its AI-driven underwriting platform and exited 2025 with $275 million in gross written premium. The round shows Israeli AI moving into conservative, data-heavy markets where better risk modeling can change entire operating models.
Secondary:Updated as of July 2, 20261Willow Raises $7M for AI Agent Governance
Willow raised $7 million with backing from Wix CEO Avishai Abrahami to build a control layer for enterprise AI agents. CTech reports the platform aims to give organizations visibility and governance as autonomous systems enter business workflows. The startup fits a broader Israeli pattern: once AI agents become useful, someone has to make them accountable.
Secondary:Updated as of July 2, 20261Offroad Raises $7M for AI Identity Security
Offroad emerged from stealth with $7 million to build what it calls an AI identity security team. CTech reports the Israeli cybersecurity startup is developing agents that autonomously manage identity risk across modern enterprise systems. Identity remains one of the hardest security problems in the AI era, and Israeli founders are attacking it from multiple angles.
Secondary:Updated as of July 2, 20261Shifters Raises $10.2M for Autonomous Battlefield Robots
Israeli startup Shifters raised $10.2 million in seed funding to build autonomous battlefield robots for high-risk environments. CTech reports the company is developing AI-driven ground platforms for missions where human exposure is dangerous. The round sits at the intersection of Israel's operational defense needs and its ability to turn battlefield lessons into deployable technology.
Secondary:Updated as of July 2, 20261Coralogix Raises $200M as AI Drives Telemetry Demand
Coralogix raised $200 million at a $1.6 billion valuation as AI-generated telemetry increases demand for observability software. CTech reports the Israeli company says the data surge is accelerating its core market rather than replacing it. The round reinforces a durable Israeli infrastructure theme: as software complexity rises, companies need smarter systems to see what is actually happening.
Secondary:Updated as of July 2, 20261ZutaCore Raises $100M for AI Data-Center Cooling
Sderot-based ZutaCore raised a $100 million Series C at an estimated $600 million valuation to scale direct-to-chip liquid cooling for AI processors in data centers. CTech reports Mitsubishi Electric, Carrier and Samsung Electronics, through Samsung Ventures, led the round. The company shows Israeli deep tech solving a physical bottleneck of the AI boom: heat, energy and cooling capacity.
Secondary:Updated as of July 2, 20261