VC Survey 2026
“Israel’s best companies will still be global, but not hostage to any single platform or jurisdiction.”
Tzahi Weisfeld, co-founder & chairman at Ignite DeepTech, joined CTech for its 2026 VC Survey.
Tzahi Weisfeld, co-founder & chairman at Ignite DeepTech.
(Video: Orel Cohen)
“Startups are increasingly designing for strategic independence: cloud optionality, multi-supplier components, export-control awareness, and data sovereignty. They’re also avoiding single points of failure: one cloud, one model provider, one chip supply line, one marketplace,” said Tzahi Weisfeld, co-founder and chairman at Ignite DeepTech.
Following the turbulence of recent years and the stabilization of 2025, the Israeli tech ecosystem is entering a new era: The Next Leap. Weisfeld joined CTech to share insights for its VC Survey 2026.
You can read the entire interview below.
Fund ID
Fund Name: Ignite DeepTech
Total Assets Under Management: N/A (Accelerator)
Partners/Managers: Alon Leibovich, Tzahi Weisfeld, Josef Shamama
Notable Portfolio Companies: N/A (Accelerator)
Notable Exits: N/A (Accelerator)
The Global Leap: How is the 'Israeli Tech' asset class being rebranded to global LPs in 2026? Are we shifting the narrative from 'Innovation' to 'Extreme Resilience'?
Yes – but I’d frame it as an upgrade, not a pivot. For years the story was “Israel = innovation density.” In 2026, the story becomes “Israel = execution under extreme constraints.” LP’s are investing in teams trained in real-world ambiguity who ship anyway. Faster learning loops, stronger security instincts, and a bias for mission-critical markets. Companies designed to survive stress-financially, operationally, and emotionally.
Innovation is easy to admire; resilience is what you can underwrite.
The Deep Tech Leap: With the rising focus on hardware-heavy sectors (Defense, Climate, Quantum), is the Israeli VC model adapted to fund high-CAPEX ventures?
To fully win deep tech, we need a capital stack upgrade. Blended finance: VC + strategic corporates + government programs + project finance + non-dilutive grants. Early “manufacturing readiness”: building supply chain and regulatory strategy from day one, not Series B.
The Dual-Use Leap: Israel has mastered Defense Tech. Which civilian industry (e.g., Construction, Agri, Logistics) will see the biggest disruption from adapting these battle-tested technologies?
Construction + infrastructure. It’s massive, inefficient, dangerous – and ready for dual-use transformation. One of the least-digitized, highest-cost, highest-risk industries globally. The pain is universal: labor shortages, delays, safety, procurement, and unpredictable environments – exactly where defense-born tech excels.
Second place (also huge): logistics / ports / supply chain – same logic: contested, complex, time-sensitive.
Construction is a trillion-dollar industry still run like a craft. Dual-use tech turns it into an operating system. When you can track assets and people in a battlefield, you can run a chaotic jobsite.
The Next Engine: Cybersecurity has been Israel's primary export engine for a decade. Which domain is best positioned to take the lead by 2030?
AI infrastructure + AI security + mission-critical autonomy – as a combined export engine. Not “AI apps” broadly. Israel wins where the market is high-stakes, technical, and trust-based. AI Security & Trust - Model risk, data leakage, supply chain of models, agent security, verification, and governance. This is “cyber 2.0” and Israel has the instincts. Compute/Data Infrastructure for regulated environments - Secure data planes, privacy-preserving computation, edge inference, and compliance-ready pipelines. Autonomy for the physical world (dual-use but civilian-led).
