In the past few weeks, Tom Livne, formerly CEO of Verbit, has been conducting talks on raising $200 million on Nasdaq for a SPAC (special-purpose acquisition company) to be called Iron Dome. Mellanox founder and former CEO Eyal Waldman and Dave DeWalt, founder and CEO of venture capital firm NightDragon, have already joined the board of the company. NightDragon is invested in several Israeli companies, among them quantum computing technology company Classiq and operational technology network protection company Claroty. Despite its name, the SPAC is not aimed at investment in the defense sector, but in a privately-held Israeli company in cybersecurity or artificial intelligence.
The SPAC trend faded in 2022, but is making a gradual comeback in the technology markets in Israel and the US. In recent months, Israeli founders have launched several SPACs in New York. Menachem (Menny) Shalom, controlling shareholder in the Kochav group, raised $150 million for a company called SC II Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: SCIIU) that aims to acquire an Israeli defense-tech company, and Avi Katz, who heads the SPAC group GigCapital Global, raised a $253 million fund, and is currently in the process of raising a further fund that will amount to $220 million, and it too is intended for investment in an Israeli defense or cybersecurity company. He has been joined by David Ben-Besht, former commander of the Israel Navy, and Avi Mizrahi, former commander of IDF Central Command.
Earlier this year, Izhar Shay and Ziv Elul’s SPAC Israel Acquisitions Corp (Nasdaq: ISRLW) announced the acquisition of Israeli drone delivery technology company Gadfin. US company Ondas (Nasdaq: ONDS), although it is not a SPAC, operates as a holding company that acquires Israeli defense companies.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on December 16, 2025.
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