Yaron Elad and Elik Etzion today launched AlphaDrive Ventures, a $100 million venture capital fund, which will focus on investments in cybersecurity and AI. The fund has been operating for several months, and in this time has made five initial investments. AlphaDrive says the investments were made in companies at the intersection of cybersecurity and AI, some of which were founded by serial entrepreneurs, and in collaboration with international venture capital funds.
Elad and Etzion, former senior executives at investment fund Elron Ventures (TASE: ELRN), previously led extensive activity, mainly in the cybersecurity field. Previous investments in which they were involved yielded 22 exits with a cumulative volume of $2.5 billion. They are joined as a partner by Gurinder Sidhu, former head of cyber and software at UBS, who over the years has supported deals for companies like CrowdStrike, CyberArk and SentinelOne.
The fund has also been joined as an anchor investor by Leumi Partners, along with other private investors, including the Kahn family's Aurum family office, cybersecurity entrepreneurs in Israel and the US, as well as venture capital fund managers and institutional investors from the US and Europe. The fund will invest in companies from seed stage to growth stage, with larger volume joint investments.
Elad says one of the fund's key characteristics is the ability to operate with flexible investment amounts that are unusual in the market. According to him, many Israeli cybersecurity funds have grown to major volumes in recent years, which requires them to lead relatively large rounds. "Large funds are required to make double-digit investments of millions of dollars and therefore sometimes lose access to smaller deals," he tells Globes. "We can also integrate into investments in single-digit million dollars, and we do not compete directly with the large funds but rather work alongside them."
Elad added that the fund has already done this in a number of investments it has made so far, and that studies indicate that funds of $80 to $100 million sometimes outperform.
"Boundaries between investment stages are blurring"
Unlike many funds that focus on a specific investment stages, AlphaDrive operates in several stages simultaneously. According to Elad, the choice stems, among other things, from the impact of AI on the tech industry and the venture capital market. "The boundaries between investment stages are blurring, development and fundraising cycles are shortening, and there is more flexibility in transitioning between stages," he says. Accordingly, the fund operates with several models simultaneously, including investing in entrepreneurs in early stages, founding companies with serial entrepreneurs in the Foundry model, and joint investments in growth stages.
On changes in entrepreneurs’ expectations, Elad says entrepreneurs, especially in cybersecurity, now enjoy broader access to capital, and criteria for choosing investors are changing. "Entrepreneurs are looking for partners who bring with them a deep understanding of the field, industry connections and infrastructure that can help them achieve product-market fit and accelerate growth."
He says the impact of AI is also changing the way companies are built and the competitive environment in which they operate. "Entrepreneurs understand that the market is changing and are looking for investors who can help them understand the changes and operate within them. We are trying to combine operational experience in building companies with technological and financial understanding in order to provide a response to these needs."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on May 4, 2026.
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