Backing Israeli founders before US funds find them.
Olivent is a $25M US seed fund backing Israeli founders in AI, defense, cybersecurity, fintech, and consumer internet. We bring US capital, US incorporation, and US market access to Israeli companies before coastal funds find them.
Built by an operator, not an allocator.
I'm Adam Yohanan. I've spent twenty-five years building software, most recently as CTO of Broadcast Your Media. I've shipped products, hired engineers, raised rounds, and sat on the founder side of the table long enough to know what good and bad capital look like.
I started Olivent because the gap between Israeli engineering talent and US capital is the most obvious arbitrage in venture I've seen in two decades. Israeli founders ship fast, sell globally from day one, and price their seed rounds well below US comps. US family offices want the exposure but rarely have the relationships to get in cleanly. Olivent is the bridge.
I back founders I'd have wanted on my own team: technical, blunt, paranoid about the right things. I read code in diligence. I take calls in Hebrew or English. I respond in hours, not weeks, and I tell founders no the same way.
Olivent is a US-domiciled fund run from Dallas. One GP, one mandate, a network of operators and advisors who've been on the building side. If that fits how you invest or how you build, the calendar link is below.
The bridge from Tel Aviv to US markets.
Israeli seed-stage entry pricing is at a multi-year low while US exit multiples have held. US family offices want the exposure but most have no direct line into the Israeli ecosystem. Olivent is the bridge.
Technical diligence as moat
A CTO-GP can read the codebase, pressure-test the architecture, and tell a real technical risk from a pitch deck story. Most seed-stage diligence is a reference call and a vibes check. We do more than that.
Israeli founder access
Direct relationships across Tel Aviv and fluency in Hebrew. Literacy in 8200, Unit 81, Talpiot, and Mamram, plus an active line into the Technion alumni network, the institutions that produce most of the country's deep-tech founders. We see the deal before the cap table does and we can read the founder's resume the way another alum would.
US market entry
Olivent does the unglamorous work that turns an Israeli seed company into a fundable US Series A: Delaware C-corp setup, US banking, GTM introductions, and follow-on syndication into US family offices and growth funds.
Solo, lean, fast
One GP means one decision-maker. Founders get a yes or no in days. LPs get unfiltered judgment from the person actually doing the work, not a filtered version routed through three associates.
Where the founders actually come from.
Most Israeli deep-tech and cyber founders are forged in a handful of elite IDF technology units and at the Technion. Reading those signals on a founder's resume, and having warm lines into the alumni networks, is how we get to deals before they hit a cap table.
Unit 8200
Signals intelligence. The cyber and AI talent factory of the IDF; alumni founded Check Point, Palo Alto Networks, Wiz, and most of Israeli cyber.
Unit 81
Tech development for special operations. Hardware, autonomy, RF, and edge systems. Smaller and more selective than 8200.
Talpiot
The elite multi-disciplinary tech officer program. Physics, math, and CS founders who go on to build deep-tech and defense companies.
Mamram
The IDF's computing and software academy. Infrastructure, systems, and platform engineering DNA.
Technion
Israel's MIT. The country's deepest bench of engineering, CS, EE, materials, and applied science founders. Direct lines into the alumni and faculty network.
Five sectors, in order of weight.
We size up in the categories we can underwrite from first principles. We pass on the rest. The order matters: most of the portfolio sits in the first three.
AI infrastructure
Compute orchestration, model serving, agent runtimes, evaluation and observability, and the data layer underneath. We underwrite the boring infrastructure layers that every AI product ends up paying for.
- Real workloads, not demos
- Defensible distribution into AI teams
- Founders with systems background
Defense and dual-use
Autonomy, sensors, comms, electronic warfare, robotics, ISR, and the software stacks that tie them together. Israel runs the world's most active defense innovation cycle and we have direct lines into the founders coming out of it.
- Clear path to DoD or allied procurement
- Dual-use commercial wedge
- Operator or 81 / Talpiot DNA
Cybersecurity
Detection and response, identity, data-layer security, cloud and runtime security, and agentic SOC tooling. Israeli cyber is the global benchmark and we can read the founder's pedigree the way a buyer of the product would.
- Wedge into the modern SOC or platform stack
- 8200 or Mamram founding team
- Design-partner traction with serious CISOs
Fintech infrastructure
Compliance and risk infrastructure, capital-markets plumbing, payments and ledger systems, and vertical software for regulated finance. We pass on consumer neo-banks and crypto exchanges.
- B2B or infrastructure positioning
- Regulatory tailwind, not regulatory bet
- Founders who have shipped into a bank
Consumer internet
Mostly we pass. When we do invest, it is a category-defining founder with a unique distribution or product insight, not a generic consumer app. Lower weight in the portfolio by design.
- Founder-market fit that is hard to copy
- Organic distribution or community
- Defensible product loop, not paid acquisition
On the desk right now.
A live snapshot of how the fund is operating. Sourcing, diligence, and investments, updated continuously. Companies are listed only after a founder clears us to do so.
From inbox to wire transfer.
Where the desk is spending time this quarter
What founders and LPs actually feel.
Substantive responses, fast.
Founders hear back within 48 hours with a real read on their company, not a templated brush-off. If we pass, we tell them why.
Diligence memos that hold up.
Every investment goes through a structured technical, market, and financial review. LPs receive the memo on request.
Clean LP reporting.
Quarterly updates with portfolio mark-to-market, deployment pace, and pipeline color. Data room access on demand.
Decision speed measured in days.
A solo GP with a clear thesis can decide in a week. We do.
Fund I, by the numbers.
A focused vehicle with clean economics. Built to move fast and back conviction at the earliest stage.
Deployed into seed-stage Israeli founders building deep tech, defense and dual-use, AI infrastructure, and cybersecurity.
Note: Final terms are governed by the Limited Partnership Agreement. All investors must complete accreditation verification before subscription. Detailed documentation is provided during onboarding.
Building something we should look at?
Israeli founders at seed or pre-seed in AI, defense, cybersecurity, fintech, or consumer internet. Tell us what you're building. If it fits, you'll hear back within 48 hours.
One inbox. One calendar.
Solo GP, no gatekeepers. Email me directly or grab time on the calendar.