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olivent.os/02/why_now

Buy in Tel Aviv. Exit in New York.

Israeli founders build for the US market from day one, but their seed rounds price like a local market. The companies exit to US acquirers at US multiples. Two lines, one widening gap.

That gap is the most obvious arbitrage in venture today, and it persists for one reason: getting into the right Israeli seed rounds takes relationships, Hebrew, and the ability to read a founder's unit pedigree the way another alum would. Capital alone does not get you in.

fig. 01 :: the spread
US exit values
Israeli seed entry pricing
Company lifecycle →Illustrative, not to scale
01Entry

Israeli seed pricing sits well below US comps.

The same caliber of technical founder, often stronger, raising at valuations US coastal funds stopped seeing years ago. The entry side of the trade is in Tel Aviv.

02Exit

The exits happen in US markets, at US multiples.

Israeli companies sell globally from day one and exit to US acquirers and US public markets. Check Point, Wiz, Palo Alto's shopping list. The exit side of the trade is in New York.

03Access

The spread persists because access is scarce, not capital.

US family offices want the exposure but have no direct line into the ecosystem. Relationships, language, and unit-level founder literacy close that gap. That is the fund.

olivent.os/04/thesis

The bridge from Tel Aviv to US markets.

Knowing the spread exists is not an edge, capturing it is. That takes four things most US funds cannot replicate: real technical diligence, founder access inside the ecosystem, US market machinery, and decision speed.

  • pillar_01

    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.

  • pillar_02

    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.

  • pillar_03

    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.

  • pillar_04

    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.

  • access :: unit_networks

    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.

    sectors :: sorted_by_weight
    most of the portfolio sits in 01-03
  • AI infrastructure

    Picks and shovels for the AI buildout.
    weight :: Core

    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.

    signals :: we_look_for
    • Real workloads, not demos
    • Defensible distribution into AI teams
    • Founders with systems background
  • Defense and dual-use

    Tech that crosses the civ-mil line cleanly.
    weight :: Core

    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.

    signals :: we_look_for
    • Clear path to DoD or allied procurement
    • Dual-use commercial wedge
    • Operator or 81 / Talpiot DNA
  • Cybersecurity

    The Israeli home-field sector.
    weight :: Core

    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.

    signals :: we_look_for
    • Wedge into the modern SOC or platform stack
    • 8200 or Mamram founding team
    • Design-partner traction with serious CISOs
  • Fintech infrastructure

    Plumbing, not consumer wallets.
    weight :: Selective

    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.

    signals :: we_look_for
    • B2B or infrastructure positioning
    • Regulatory tailwind, not regulatory bet
    • Founders who have shipped into a bank
  • Consumer internet

    Rare, but we will write the check.
    weight :: Rare

    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.

    signals :: we_look_for
    • Founder-market fit that is hard to copy
    • Organic distribution or community
    • Defensible product loop, not paid acquisition
  • olivent.os/07/contact

    One inbox. One calendar.

    Solo GP, no gatekeepers. Email me directly or grab time on the calendar.

    investors :: eligibility criteria