Attorney Eran Yaniv, co-head of the high-tech department at Fisher (FBC), said at Globes' TECH IL conference in Tel Aviv on Tuesday that Israeli tech had a very strong year and remains strong in 2026, but that the industry also faces troubling trends. Speaking with Globes technology and media reporter Nevo Trabelsi, he said the recent surge included $84 billion in exits, with slightly less than half of acquisitions of Israeli companies made by other Israeli firms, while Israeli companies also bought more than 80 foreign companies.
Yaniv said fundraising rose sharply by 30% to about $15 billion, but fewer companies raised money and investment became more concentrated. "50% of the money is invested in 10% of the rounds and the money is going to fewer deals," he said, warning that there is less cash available for startups. He called for more financing options from the private sector, institutional investors and the state, and said the dollar's weakness explains only part of the problem in some industries.
He said cyber, fintech and enterprise account for more than 50% of activity, but money is also shifting into new areas, including defense tech, space, drones, hardware, infrastructure, biotech, medical devices and diagnostics. Yaniv said investors are returning to defense and space and that Israeli tech has a major advantage in spotting problems and solutions.
Yaniv also said there is a gap between the brand of Israel and the brand of Israeli tech, and described the war, the weak dollar and the AI revolution as the three main forces affecting the sector. He said he does not see major talent unemployment, even at an exchange rate of 2.90 shekels to the dollar, because the market is maturing and becoming more efficient. At the same time, he warned that more tech companies are incorporating abroad and that more R&D workers are leaving Israel for places such as the U.S. and Estonia.
Looking ahead, Yaniv expects more mergers and acquisitions, including among young and mid-stage companies, even if they fail to raise new capital because of investor concentration and selectivity. He urged more corporate venture capital, more funding for companies beyond the startup stage, and greater expertise in high-tech law in economic courts. He said AI is already changing legal work, with almost no document reviewed without it, though human oversight remains, and added: "Even if there are no more Wiz, there will be more successes."
