Israel Tech Daily

Nebius acquires ten-month-old Tel Aviv startup Inferize, enso raises a $15 million Series A, a UK filing details Snyk's 20% layoff, and an OpenWeb co-founder blames the founder's ouster for its fall.

1. Nebius acquires ten-month-old Tel Aviv startup Inferize for an estimated $100 million to $150 million - Inferize cuts GPU cold-start time; its team and technology join Nebius's Token Factory inference platform.
   Sources: Globes, CTech, CTech, ice, GuruFocus
2. RapidAPI co-founder Mickey Haslavsky's enso raises a $15 million Series A led by MoreTech Ventures - enso builds AI agents for marketing and sales and has raised $23 million in total.
   Sources: CTech, Forbes Israel, ice
3. Snyk cut 20% of its workforce in June and wrote off technology from Israeli acquisitions Helios and Enso Security - A UK filing puts the layoff cost at $12.8 million to $13.8 million and the write-off charge at $3.2 million.
   Sources: CTech
4. OpenWeb co-founder Ishay Green says the company's decline began when founder Nadav Shoval was ousted - CEO Jim Daily says OpenWeb is operating as usual while a temporary receiver is in place.
   Sources: Globes, Adweek
5. Israeli startups raised $13.2 billion in the first nine months of 2026 - CTech's count covers 192 disclosed rounds, about 85% of 2025's full-year $15.6 billion.
   Sources: CTech
6. Microsoft ranks Israel the second most targeted country for cyberattacks - Israel drew 7.6% of global threat activity and 39% of Iranian state-backed operations, per Microsoft's report.
   Sources: CTech
7. Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz is named co-CEO of the combined Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery - Kreiz will run day-to-day operations and integration alongside David Ellison once the $110 billion merger closes.
   Sources: Ynetnews, Haaretz

What to watch: What Nebius builds next in Israel after Inferize and Tavily, and whether a buyer comes forward for OpenWeb while the receiver is in charge.

Full transcript: https://www.startuptofollow.com/israel-tech-daily/2026-10-02-nebius-inferize-enso-snyk

Israel Tech Daily is written from the day's reporting and voiced by AI hosts. Corrections: [email protected]

Nebius explores a $100-150 million Israeli acquisition, a Tel Aviv court appoints a temporary receiver for OpenWeb, Israeli startups raise about $2.77 billion in September, and Snyk's UK filings show slower growth.

1. Nebius explores buying an Israeli company for about $100 million to $150 million - Nebius already bought Israeli AI search startup Tavily for an initial $275 million, partners with AI21 and is building an AI data center in Modi'in.
   Sources: CTech, ice
2. Tel Aviv court appoints a temporary receiver for OpenWeb at its lender's request - Mars Growth Capital says it is owed about $20 million; the lien covers OpenWeb's Israeli bank funds, receivables and intellectual property.
   Sources: Globes
3. Israeli startups raise about $2.77 billion across 28 rounds in September - Five mega-rounds made up about 69% of the month's total, with AI agent security the dominant theme.
   Sources: CTech
4. Snyk's revenue passes $300 million as growth slows and losses widen - UK filings show 11% growth in 2025, a net loss of $197.9 million and founder Guy Podjarny back as chairman.
   Sources: CTech
5. Israeli founder says he was barred from a San Francisco AI hackathon for being Israeli - Adam Levi says Andreessen Horowitz investors told him they withdrew their sponsorship of the event.
   Sources: The Algemeiner
6. Pagaya's AI-driven real estate fund is down 54.5% since 2022 - SmartResi Fund I now holds 888 US homes, down from 1,400 a year ago.
   Sources: CTech
7. Foresight Autonomous will voluntarily delist from the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange - Its shares will keep trading on Nasdaq; the last Tel Aviv trading day is January 1, 2027, the company says.
   Sources: GlobeNewswire
8. Google unveils Gemini 4 Argon, with Wiz among its first security partners - Google says Wiz used the model to find a critical vulnerability in a system used by hospitals.
   Sources: Geektime
9. OpenAI makes its first go-to-market hire in Israel - Motti Hadas, formerly a vice president at Matrix, joins OpenAI.
   Sources: Globes

What to watch: Whether Nebius confirms an Israeli acquisition and names the company, and what OpenWeb's temporary receiver does with its Israeli assets.

Full transcript: https://www.startuptofollow.com/israel-tech-daily/2026-10-01-nebius-openweb-receiver-snyk

Israel Tech Daily is written from the day's reporting and voiced by AI hosts. Corrections: [email protected]

Capitolis acquires US securities lender eSecLending, Cato Networks staff and investors sell about $100 million of shares, Reco and Protego Ventures raise new money, and OpenWeb's court filing blames its lender.

1. Capitolis buys US securities lending firm eSecLending for $200 million in cash - The sellers are Parthenon Capital and eSecLending's management, and Parthenon is investing in Capitolis as part of the deal; it is Capitolis's fourth acquisition in five years.
   Sources: Globes, CTech, TheMarker, Geektime
2. Cato Networks completes a secondary deal worth about $100 million, its second in just over a year - Globes reports hundreds of employees and existing investors sold shares; Cato's annual recurring revenue has passed $415 million.
   Sources: Globes
3. AI agent security company Reco raises $50 million, with AT&T Ventures as a strategic investor - Forestay and Quadrille Capital joined the round; Globes puts Reco's total funding at $135 million, while Israel Defense reports the round as $55 million.
   Sources: Globes, Geektime, Israel Defense
4. Protego Ventures closes a $125 million debut fund for Israeli defense tech - Led by Lital Leshem and Lee Moser, the fund invests $5 million to $15 million per company and backed drone maker XTEND before its NYSE listing.
   Sources: TechCrunch, Ynetnews
5. OpenWeb's insolvency filing alleges its lender demanded $20 million and took control of its accounts - Geektime reports the filing and the CEO's letter to staff, which says a sale process with a potential buyer was paused; the company says it is still operating.
   Sources: Geektime
6. Smart Shooter wins a US counter-drone contract with a ceiling of $150 million
   Sources: CTech
7. Rig Security emerges from stealth with a $12 million seed round
   Sources: CTech, Crypto Briefing
8. Meitav Trade says an outside party accessed customer data through a vendor's API
   Sources: CTech, Escudo Digital
9. Phoenix adds nearly $1 billion of exposure to Israeli chip equipment makers Nova and Camtek
   Sources: CTech

What to watch: Regulatory and antitrust clearance for the Capitolis deal, and whether a sale of OpenWeb comes back on the table in court.

Full transcript: https://www.startuptofollow.com/israel-tech-daily/2026-09-30-capitolis-eseclending-cato-reco

Israel Tech Daily is written from the day's reporting and voiced by AI hosts. Corrections: [email protected]

Spyware maker Paragon agrees a SPAC merger at a $1.25 billion valuation while its CEO plans a new startup, Valley National buys Bluevine, OpenWeb seeks court protection, and Wix's Base44 takes on Claude Code and Cursor.

1. Paragon, the spyware maker founded by former 8200 commanders, agrees a SPAC merger at a $1.25 billion valuation - Paragon and its US sister company REDLattice will merge with Nasdaq-listed Bold Eagle, with $335 million of committed capital. Paragon brings over $200 million of the combined $267 million in revenue.
   Sources: Globes, CTech, Reuters, The Business Journals, TheMarker
2. Paragon CEO Idan Nurick is leaving to found a new cyber company, with top US funds lining up - Globes reports investors including Sequoia's Sean Maguire and Omri Casspi's Swish Fund are ready to back it at a valuation in the hundreds of millions.
   Sources: Globes, CTech
3. Valley National buys Israeli-founded fintech Bluevine for $340 million - 75% cash, 25% stock. Bluevine serves 175,000 US small businesses, and about 180 engineers and R&D staff, including in Tel Aviv, move to the bank.
   Sources: Globes, CTech, Geektime, Bizportal, ice
4. OpenWeb, once valued at $1.5 billion, files for insolvency and asks for a stay of proceedings - Founded in 2012 as Spot.im, the company raised about $400 million. CEO Jim Daly told employees in a letter, according to TheMarker.
   Sources: TheMarker, Calcalist
5. Wix's Base44 launches Base Code to compete with Claude Code and Cursor - A cloud environment that connects to a team's GitHub repositories, so product managers and designers can change code by chat and submit pull requests for review.
   Sources: CTech
6. Ibex Investors closes an $87 million secondary fund for mature Israeli tech companies
   Sources: Pulse 2.0
7. Former hostage Noa Argamani joins Vine Ventures to help Israeli startups break into the US
   Sources: CTech, Ynetnews
8. Maris-Tech wins a record $10 million order for airborne defense video systems
   Sources: GlobeNewswire via The Manila Times
9. Nvidia launches an AI agent safety platform, with its Sentry monitor running on chips from its Israeli R&D
   Sources: Ynetnews, BigGo Finance

What to watch: OpenWeb's court filing: what happens to its staff and the publishers that run its comment platform.

Full transcript: https://www.startuptofollow.com/israel-tech-daily/2026-09-28-paragon-spac-bluevine-openweb

Israel Tech Daily is written from the day's reporting and voiced by AI hosts. Corrections: [email protected]