Israel’s Glilot Partners raises $220m to back early-stage cyber, software startups
New fund earmarked for seed-stage companies focusing on cybersecurity, enterprise software and developer tools
Ricky Ben-David is a Times of Israel editor and reporter
Israeli investment firm Glilot Capital Partners has raised $220 million for its fourth fund to back seed-stage startups focused on cybersecurity, enterprise software, and developer tools, the company said Monday.
The fund will be led by founding Glilot partners Kobi Samborsky and Arik Kleinstein, and general partner Nofar Amikam. Last year, the investment firm launched a $180 million fund, Glilot+, earmarked for post-series A enterprise software and cybersecurity companies. That fund is led by Lior Litwak, previously a partner at M12, Microsoft’s venture fund.
Founded in 2011, Glilot has invested in close to three dozen companies, 12 of which completed a tech exit through acquisition. These include CyberX, acquired by Microsoft in 2020, and LightCyber, bought by Palo Alto Networks in 2017. Glilot’s total assets under management stand at about $400 million.
The seed fund is Glilot’s fourth such fund intended for early-stage startups. The company said investors in the fund include leading cybersecurity and software entrepreneurs, as well as senior executives of global corporations.
Kleinstein said in a statement that Glilot invests in “ventures run by entrepreneurs who espouse a brilliant vision and desire to grow into large companies. The combination of a strong team and our extensive global network enables them to take off and quickly conquer the market.”
Samborsky said the firm has made “a conscious decision to increase the amount of capital that we are investing in young companies.”
“Between this new seed round and Glilot+, we have $400 million at our disposal to invest in promising Israeli startups. We have great faith in Israeli entrepreneurs, and we intend to continue expanding our platform in the coming years,” said Samborsky.
Amikam said in the statement that the team works closely with portfolio companies to “help them determine their product/market fit and close deals with their initial clients.
“In fact, our portfolio companies attain a significant number of their clients through a value creation process called ‘Mach5,’ which generates millions of dollars in revenues for our companies. This process helps them launch relevant products that are designed and built for real clients, and not under laboratory conditions,” she added.
“In our view, assisting our portfolio companies is one of our most important roles, since there’s no other way to ensure that they quickly become leaders in their respective fields,” said Amikam.
