Cyber Security in Israel is a boiling hot investment arena, both for Venture Capitalists and for the companies themselves. The Israel Venture Capital marketplace is small, yet powerful. In the cyber security arena, the companies coming out of this crucible are brimming with talent and innovation, often backed by direct experience in government and military affairs.
These cyber companies are fascinating to work with; and to see the transformational and technological leadership many exhibit become reality is a real opportunity. The real power begins when these transformative companies are connected to capital pools that are larger than the Israel VC market, and thus operate on different economic scale.
The following is an excerpt of an upcoming conference presentation by the two founding partners of Dalai VC, Dr. Orit Mossinson in Tel Aviv and Alan W. Silberberg in Los Angeles. Dalai VC is a global venture capital firm focusing on the Israel cyber security space, as well as health science technology. It is a key player in the cross border business synergy between Israel and US companies in the cyber and health science arenas as well.
Dr. Mossinson: Israel is seeing a massive amount of key companies hitting venture capital milestones including exits and ipos on the public exchanges. In fact Israel accounts for more companies listed per capita on the NASDAQ exchange than US companies. It is a fascinating time to be a Venture Capitalist in this particular space.
Silberberg: There has been a lot of talk in US national security and venture capital circles about the concentration of cyber security companies coming out of Israel with the highest pedigrees; often with top tier innovative technologies. What do you think accounts for this?
Dr. Mossinson: There is a critical level of early investment provided by government through the Israel Chief Scientist Office, and also a network of smaller angels and VCs. But this is tempered in part by the smaller market size of Israel in general, so when these companies hit larger milestones, they often begin looking for capital from global sources that can leverage larger capital pools.
Silberberg: We are seeing a lot more cross border business development occurring within the cyber security community both at the highest government levels and also at the transactional level. What do you think accounts for this recent movement towards a global view?
Dr. Mossinson: The cross border business development is a natural for such a fast moving and critical arena as cyber space. The internet is global, so are the implications and ramifications of proper cyber security. No one country or one company can think they have all the answers or solutions. So in these critical situations, sometimes the best thing to happen is through international collaboration and cross border deals. It is ever more important to avoid times when somebody is looking for a solution that already exists in another territory; but people do not know it exists. Cross border business expands the markets; and also expands the ability of cyber security responses to occur in real time. Cyber space especially needs cooperative response to effect real time defenses and protection against a truly global threat.