Appointment
UpWest promotes Aya Neeman to Principal
The promotion supports the expansion of the fund’s investment activity in Israel; UpWest leads pre-Seed and Seed rounds and has invested in more than 100 Israeli startups.
UpWest, a venture capital fund leading pre-Seed and Seed investments in Israeli companies and founders in Israel and the U.S., has announced the promotion of Aya Neeman to Principal at the fund.
Neeman joined UpWest in 2023 as an Associate. In her role, she led and was closely involved in investments across the Vertical AI space and worked closely with portfolio company founders at various stages of their growth.
UpWest is a U.S.-based venture capital fund headquartered in Silicon Valley, with an additional office in Israel. The fund leads pre-Seed and Seed rounds in Israeli founders at the earliest stages and helps them gain rapid access to the U.S. market. The fund was an early investor in companies such as SentinelOne, HoneyBook, Stampli, Zenity, and Darwin. UpWest was founded in 2012 in Palo Alto by founding partners Gil Ben-Artzy and Shuli Galili, and in 2024 Lia Cromwell was promoted to become the fund’s third partner.
Gil Ben-Artzy: “This is the most active investment period we’ve had in recent years. Over the past two years, we’ve expanded our team in Israel and led pre-Seed and Seed investments across cybersecurity, AI, fintech, digital health, biotech, govtech, and more. We are very pleased to promote Aya to Principal as part of our continued growth and to support the fund’s expanding investment activity.”
