The need of the home front did not stop at supplying equipment and food to the evacuees' hotels. Victory will also mean creating a prosperous, strong and flourishing society.
Israeli society must be able to survive this event economically as well. The fighting may prolong, the economic consequences will be profound, and this is especially true for startups that have just started out. As in any field, the most vulnerable will always be young people who do not have the independent strength or significant backing to survive the crisis.
The war comes after a challenging year for Israeli high-tech, in which a global recession and a social crisis caused a slowdown in investments, widespread layoffs and a decline in the number of new startups. Those who succeeded in getting up in the past two years found it difficult to raise funds under a cloud of severe uncertainty in the economy. Everyone was waiting and hoping for "after the holidays."
The Israeli developments we export to the world are the pillars that promise Israel's tomorrow, and we must not let them fall.
Startups founded in 2021 and 2022 are now in existential danger. Many of them managed to raise initial funding, but the long months of protests, the summer and the holidays have already brought them to an end in terms of cash flow. Many of the workers were drafted into the reserves or volunteered for the tremendous civilian activity we are seeing now, even at the cost of a death sentence for the company they have been working on in recent years.
Now they need an infusion of funds to continue producing their technological developments. When they return from reserve duty after a bloody war, the company will be on the verge of bankruptcy, if not a minute after closing.
In the absence of a systemic response from the state, I teamed up with former 8200 commander Ehud Schneerson and Managing Partner of Battery Ventures, Itzik Fernfas, and together we established SafeDome – an emergency fund for small investments, which will enable young startups that have already managed to raise at least one investment to get through the war.
The Israeli developments that we export to the world are the pillars that ensure Israel's tomorrow, and we must not let them fall
I didn't believe I would get such reactions from the field.
The need is enormous - dozens of messages, WhatsApp messages and phone calls from owners and employees of start-up companies all over the country, saying that this is exactly what is happening to them. Fundraising rounds that have been arrested, employees and suppliers murdered, and successful and promising companies that will close for lack of a lifeline.
Moving reactions come from companies in the line of fire that were directly affected by the situation, for example in the village of Gaza and Nir Am, companies that suffered losses among employees and their families, as opposed to equipment. The responses attest to the urgent and urgent need on the ground, and to what extent we must take care of high-tech now. We built the fund out of the great belief that whoever invests money today in Israeli high-tech, with its great talent, will receive – beyond the social value and contribution to the national effort – exposure to this talented sector, with a quality investment that will pay itself back.
What remains is for investors to join us and help save tomorrow's high-tech.
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