Mind the Tech NY
“Israeli high-tech doesn't stop even when the headlines are tough and politics are chaotic”
In his opening remarks at the Calcalist and Bank Leumi Mind the Tech New York Conference, Calcalist publisher Yoel Esteron said: “The last two years have proven that national upheavals sometimes actually create investment opportunities.”
Let me start by saying: I told you so. Two years ago, believing in Israeli tech meant going against the mood, the headlines, and, in some cases, against investment committees.
So, in March 2024, here in New York, I said something very simple, and very unfashionable at the time: “We advise you not to ‘short’ Israeli tech. Investing in Israel, especially now, is a smart investment that will bear wonderful fruits.”
A year later, in 2025, I came back and said:“The bet on Israeli tech is paying off.”
Today, we’re no longer in prediction mode. We’re in results mode.
Let’s talk numbers, not narratives. In 2024, amid a devastating war, political turmoil, and global uncertainty, Israeli tech still raised roughly $12 billion in private funding.vNot a boom year, but far from the collapse many predicted.
In 2025, funding crossed $17 billion. More importantly, the nature of the funding changed. Less hype. More late-stage rounds. More real companies with real revenues.
Exits followed the same trajectory. In 2024, total M&A value was around $15 billion. In 2025, it climbed to more than $82 billion, including the landmark $32 billion exit of Wiz and the $25 billion acquisition of CyberArk.
So yes, if you stepped back in 2023 or early 2024 and said, “Too risky,” this is the moment when reality catches up.
The success of Israeli tech over the past two years is not the result of government policy. If anything, much of it happened despite the government.
As I said last year: “The Israeli high-tech ecosystem is, to a large extent, an almost independent entity.”
It does not wait for policy. It does not depend on stability. It does not pause when politics gets messy. It moves.
This ecosystem didn’t just operate under “uncertainty.”
It operated through two rounds of confrontation with Iran and its proxies, Hezbollah and Hamas. And still, companies delivered. Deals closed. Investments were made.
Why? Because this system is not fragile.
It is built to function under pressure. While others slow down, Israeli companies keep building. While others wait for clarity, Israeli founders move forward. While others hesitate, Israeli tech compounds.
So where are we now?
Not in recovery. In repositioning.
AI. Cybersecurity. Defense tech. And more. Israeli companies are not just participating in these sectors, they are shaping them.
And the investors who stayed engaged over the past two years now have access to some of the world’s best entrepreneurs.
So yes, there is a modest “I told you so” moment here. But the real message is forward-looking.
The next time you see harsh headlines about Israel, and there will always be headlines, don’t ask: “Is it stable?”
Ask: “Is the engine still running?”
Because if the answer is yes, then volatility is not a warning sign. It is often the opportunity.
Let me end on a personal note. Eighteen years ago, we founded Calcalist. From day one, we made a very deliberate choice: to put Israeli tech at the center of what we do. Not on the margins, not as a niche, but as a core story.
We built the largest newsroom in Israel dedicated to covering and analyzing the tech industry. We launched startup competitions across different verticals. And over the years, we hosted dozens of conferences, bringing Israeli innovation to the world, and the world to Israeli innovation.
This journey has been, above all, about connecting people, ideas, and capital.
This conference, here in New York, is my last one in this role.
In the coming months, I’ll be stepping down as publisher of Calcalist and CTech.
So, for now, I simply want to say thank you for the partnership, the friendship, and the trust.
Yoel Esteron is the Publisher of Calcalist.
