Key Takeaways
- • SkyBeam Venture Partners launched a $250 million early-stage fund focused on Israeli venture managers and technology founders operating in AI infrastructure, cybersecurity, quantum computing, and deep-tech sectors.
- • The platform targets pre-seed and seed-stage startups while making follow-on investments in breakout companies, addressing a historical gap in institutional investor access to Israel's early-stage venture ecosystem.
- • Co-founders Daniel Benel (formerly of Tenere Capital) and Gabby Czertok (founder of The Builders innovation platform) designed SkyBeam to provide institutional-grade governance and transparency for global capital seeking Israeli deep-tech opportunities.
- • SkyBeam explicitly positions itself to capture "alpha at the earliest stages of company formation," emphasizing that early-stage Israeli venture opportunities have been difficult for global investors to access at scale.
- • The fund recognizes a structural shift in Israeli venture management, with a new generation of managers building firms outside traditional institutional frameworks, positioning SkyBeam as infrastructure support for this emerging ecosystem.
Summary
SkyBeam Venture Partners announced the launch of its inaugural $250 million early-stage fund on Friday, establishing a platform designed to connect global institutional investors with Israeli venture managers and technology founders. The fund will operate across a two-tier investment strategy: backing venture managers targeting pre-seed and seed-stage startups, while simultaneously making follow-on investments in companies that emerge as breakouts from those funds.
The platform focuses on foundational technology sectors critical to global innovation, security, and resilience. Primary investment verticals include AI infrastructure, cybersecurity, quantum computing, and other deep technologies. According to co-founder Daniel Benel, the fund addresses a structural inefficiency in global capital allocation: "The greatest alpha in Israel's venture market is created at the earliest stages of company formation, an opportunity that has historically been difficult for global investors to access at scale." This positioning frames SkyBeam's value proposition around market access rather than operational venture management.
SkyBeam is led by two veteran ecosystem participants: Daniel Benel, founder of Tenere Capital, and Gabby Czertok, founder of Tel Aviv-based innovation platform The Builders. Czertok emphasized that the fund responds to shifting dynamics within Israeli venture management itself. "A new generation of Israeli managers is building venture firms differently, often outside traditional institutional frameworks," he noted, positioning SkyBeam as infrastructure supporting this transition. The platform emphasizes governance and transparency mechanisms designed to give global investors disciplined engagement with Israel's innovation economy while allowing general partners to focus on execution and deal flow.
The fund's launch reflects broader institutional recognition that Israeli deep-tech startups—particularly in AI and cybersecurity—represent attractive risk-adjusted opportunities for diversified allocators. By structuring as a platform rather than a traditional early-stage fund, SkyBeam aims to solve the sourcing and operational complexity that has historically kept smaller Israeli rounds opaque or inaccessible to global institutional capital.
The platform focuses on foundational technology sectors critical to global innovation, security, and resilience. Primary investment verticals include AI infrastructure, cybersecurity, quantum computing, and other deep technologies. According to co-founder Daniel Benel, the fund addresses a structural inefficiency in global capital allocation: "The greatest alpha in Israel's venture market is created at the earliest stages of company formation, an opportunity that has historically been difficult for global investors to access at scale." This positioning frames SkyBeam's value proposition around market access rather than operational venture management.
SkyBeam is led by two veteran ecosystem participants: Daniel Benel, founder of Tenere Capital, and Gabby Czertok, founder of Tel Aviv-based innovation platform The Builders. Czertok emphasized that the fund responds to shifting dynamics within Israeli venture management itself. "A new generation of Israeli managers is building venture firms differently, often outside traditional institutional frameworks," he noted, positioning SkyBeam as infrastructure supporting this transition. The platform emphasizes governance and transparency mechanisms designed to give global investors disciplined engagement with Israel's innovation economy while allowing general partners to focus on execution and deal flow.
The fund's launch reflects broader institutional recognition that Israeli deep-tech startups—particularly in AI and cybersecurity—represent attractive risk-adjusted opportunities for diversified allocators. By structuring as a platform rather than a traditional early-stage fund, SkyBeam aims to solve the sourcing and operational complexity that has historically kept smaller Israeli rounds opaque or inaccessible to global institutional capital.
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