VC Survey 2026
“In the AI era, companies must demonstrate non-linear growth”
InNegev Chief Investment Officer Amir Tzach joined CTech for its 2026 VC Survey.
Amir Tzach, Chief Investment Officer at InNegev
(Video: Orel Cohen)
“In the AI era, companies must demonstrate non-linear growth, scaling revenue without a corresponding linear growth in headcount,” said Amir Tzach, Chief Investment Officer at InNegev.
“Startups that show high efficiency per employee (leveraging AI internally) prove they are true technology platforms, not service-heavy operations, and will command the highest premiums.”
After several years of turbulence and a measure of stabilization in 2025, the Israeli tech ecosystem is undergoing its Next Leap. Tzach joined CTech for its 2026 VC Survey to share insights on how he sees Israeli tech advancing in the next year.
You can read the entire interview below.
Fund ID:
Name of Fund: InNegev
Total Assets Under Management (AUM): $30M
Partners/Managers: Amir Tzach, Arnon Columbus, Dror Green, Karina Rubinstein, Focus: DeepTech & ClimateTech (Israeli Innovation in the Negev)
Notable Portfolio Companies (Active): Pickommerce, Harvester, Lamin, Motion ID, Fungit
Notable Exits: N/A (Our portfolio companies are currently in early growth stages)
The Liquidity Leap: After a period defined by cash preservation, will 2026 see the reopening of the IPO window for Israeli tech, or will M&A remain the sole viable liquidity event?
While we will see a "thaw" in the IPO market for outliers, M&A will remain King. The reasoning is strategic: non-tech giants in traditional industries (Construction, Logistics, Energy) are realizing they cannot build AI DNA in-house. They will be aggressive buyers of specialized DeepTech startups to secure their future engines. We expect a wave of consolidation where "Build vs. Buy" decisions heavily favor buying.
The Agentic Leap: As we transition from 'Copilots' to autonomous 'Agents,' which specific vertical will be the first to fully trust AI with independent decision-making?
The leap will happen in Supply Chain & Industrial Operations (Physical AI). Unlike open-ended creative tasks, supply chains operate on quantifiable data and clear logic. We will see autonomous agents managing inventory, negotiating logistics, and optimizing production lines in real-time. This is the shift from "Digital AI" (generating text) to "Physical AI" (moving atoms), where agents are trusted because the ROI is immediate and measurable.
The Dual-Use Leap: Which civilian industry will see the biggest disruption from adapting battle-tested defense technologies?
The immediate disruption is in Critical Infrastructure and Energy.
Technologies developed for battlefield survivability—such as advanced sensors, anomaly detection, and micro-grid energy management—are exactly what the civilian world needs for grid stability and renewable integration. Israel’s expertise in "off-grid" energy resilience and identifying threats (physical or cyber) to infrastructure will undergo massive civilianization.
The Contrarian Leap: What is one sector or trend currently ignored by the herd that you believe represents the most undervalued opportunity for the coming year?
Physical AI. While the "herd" is chasing LLMs and Generative AI software, the undervalued alpha lies in the convergence of AI with the physical world. DeepTech companies building the "brains" for robotics, autonomous machinery, and physical automation are currently undervalued compared to pure software, yet they address the acute global shortage in labor and manufacturing capacity.
Finally, what are 2-3 startups that, in your opinion, are likely to make a leap forward in 2026?
Pickommerce (InNegev portfolio) - Pickommerce is at the forefront of the Physical AI revolution in retail. By introducing a new paradigm of robotics and intelligent fulfillment, they are solving the efficiency bottleneck in logistics that software alone cannot address.
Addionics - Addionics is unlocking the next level of battery performance by redesigning the physical architecture of the battery itself. Moving from 2D to smart 3D electrode structures allows them to drastically improve charging speeds and range for EVs. As the market seeks scalable solutions to the energy transition, Addionics proves that hardware innovation is just as critical as software.
