CTalk
“The bar has really risen for what outcomes Israeli founders are aiming for”
Yonatan Mandelbaum, Partner at TLV Partners, speaks to CTech about fundraising and tech sector trends over the past year, including why Israel held strong, his expectations for 2026, and what he looks for in early-stage founders.
Yonatan Mandelbaum
(Photo: Streame)
Yonatan Mandelbaum, Partner at TLV Partners, believes 2025 has been “a very positive year for the ecosystem” despite the immense challenges Israel has faced in the wake of the Swords of Iron war.
Speaking to CTech, he explained that the outcomes of 2025 reflect the continued maturation of Israeli tech. “You can’t go without mentioning Wiz and their acquisition by Google,” he says, adding TLV Partners’ own portfolio exits this year, including Next Insurance for $2.7 billion and Melio for more than $2 billion. “The bar has really been risen for what outcomes Israeli investors are looking for and, more importantly, what outcomes Israeli founders are aiming for,” Mandelbaum says.
The strength in fundraising, he adds, has also extended to VCs themselves. LPs invest in ecosystems “that have proven themselves to be able to return capital,” and the past two years have shown “very, very active” M&A in areas including cybersecurity, fintech, and AI.
The Cleveland native, now a decade into his role at the early-stage fund, told CTech at Calcalist’s Roadshow+ 2025 that TLV Partners has raised “a little bit over a billion dollars in total assets” and is currently investing from its fifth, $250 million fund. As for what stands out in a startup, Mandelbaum says the firm looks for “very, very smart founders” with a clear thesis about their industry, but also “a very specific mix of confidence and humility.”
You can watch the entire exchange in the video above.
