Protego Ventures Closes Israel's Largest Defense-Tech Fund at $125 Million

Protego Ventures, a defense technology investment fund founded by Lital Leshem and Li Mozer, has successfully closed its first fund at $125 million, making it the largest of its kind in Israel and the first to specialize in this sector. The fund focuses on early-stage growth companies whose products have already demonstrated effectiveness in the field and whose technologies have been proven on the battlefield.

The initial closing raised $70 million, with an additional $55 million secured to complete the fund's total. Protego Ventures aims to help its portfolio companies expand into international markets by connecting them with global business partners, investors, and defense clients.

Co-founder Lital Leshem brings extensive experience from her 11 years in the IDF and intelligence, co-founding Carbyne, and subsequent business development and investment roles in defense, aviation, and cyber sectors in the U.S. Li Mozer is a venture capital investor and manager of AnD Ventures, previously serving as chief of staff to former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren and assisting BlackRock's expansion in Israel.

Protego's investments include XTEND, which develops autonomous robotic systems used by the IDF and U.S. military, and ASIO, which creates navigation and situational awareness systems for maneuvering forces, even in GPS-denied environments. The fund also invested in Prisma Photonics, which transforms fiber optic cables into sensors for monitoring infrastructure, and Rilian, which develops AI for cybersecurity tasks.

Leshem highlighted the advantage of Israeli defense companies being close to operational needs, allowing for rapid product improvement based on direct user feedback. Mozer explained that the fund closed early, after about a year, to avoid diluting existing investors and to allow them to benefit from a higher return on investment, despite having an 18-month window to reach the full fundraising target.