A look at which Israeli early-stage funds are backing Enterprise AI founders, how their funds and recent rounds differ, and what founders can verify before approaching one.
TL;DR
- Enterprise buyers are spending: US enterprises spent about $37 billion on generative AI in 2025, up from $11.5 billion in 2024, and 76% of solutions were bought rather than built.
- Production is still the hard step: 46% of AI proofs of concept had reached production in IDC research fielded in September and October 2025 and published in Lenovo’s 2026 CIO Playbook.
- Israeli tech raised $14.6 billion in 2025, up about 30%, but rounds of up to $10 million fell to 301, the lowest count in a decade. In Q2 2026, seed and early-stage companies raised $719 million, down from more than $1 billion in each of the three prior quarters.
- Hetz Ventures, StageOne Ventures, Glilot Capital, TLV Partners, and Grove Ventures focus on Enterprise AI.
- Recent early-stage examples include two Hetz-led seed rounds in AI agent infrastructure and security, Glilot’s return in Noma Security’s $100 million Series B, and Grove’s role as an existing investor in Alice’s $140 million round in August 2026.
Several Israeli funds are active in early-stage Enterprise AI. Hetz Ventures, StageOne Ventures, Glilot Capital, TLV Partners, and Grove Ventures each announced a fund or backed a round in recent years. They differ in stage, sub-sector and fund size. Hetz and StageOne lean toward data and AI infrastructure, Glilot pairs AI with security, and Grove combines expertise in Enterprise AI and Vertical AI with deep technology domains such as AI infrastructure, Physical AI and energy. This guide covers who they are, what they have funded recently, and what founders can verify before approaching one.
Why Enterprise AI is drawing early-stage capital
Menlo Ventures surveyed 495 US enterprise AI decision-makers in November 2025 and estimated that enterprises spent about $37 billion on generative AI in 2025, up from $11.5 billion in 2024. The share of solutions purchased from vendors rose to 76 percent from 53 percent a year earlier, which favors startups that sell complete products.
Production remains the harder step. IDC surveyed 3,120 IT and business decision-makers in September and October 2025, and Lenovo’s 2026 CIO Playbook reports that 46 percent of AI proofs of concept were running in production. Investors in this category therefore emphasize customer access and deployment support alongside capital.
Want to go deeper? Grove’s article Nobody Buys AI. They Buy AI Deployment argues that Enterprise AI is becoming a deployment business and suggests tracking engineer-weeks per deployment to see whether each new customer costs less to serve.
What the 2025 and 2026 funding data show
Israeli technology companies raised $14.6 billion in 2025, the highest annual figure since the 2021 to 2022 peak, according to the Israel Innovation Authority. Core AI companies, which the Innovation Authority defines as those building foundational AI such as models, infrastructure and chips, took roughly a third of the total. The increase came mainly from growth-stage rounds, and the early-stage companies found capital harder to access.
The pattern continued into 2026. Israeli companies raised $7.6 billion in the first half, up 52% from the first half of 2025, yet growth and late-stage companies took about 83% of Q2 capital. IVC data summarized by Glilot shows first investments at 35.5% of investment actions in the first half of 2026, the lowest share in a decade. New capital is still arriving: IVC and the Authority counted 47 new Israeli VC funds in 2025 and estimated $8.7 billion in dry powder across Israeli VC funds, as summarized in Grove’s note on the 2025 Investors Report.
A fund willing to lead an early round therefore matters more than before, and recent announcements say more about current activity than fund history does.
Which funds are writing early Enterprise AI checks
Hetz Ventures leads seed rounds, with investments averaging $5 million to $7 million according to Globes, and closed a $140 million fourth fund in January 2026 covering cybersecurity, AI and software infrastructure. In 2026 it led Keewano’s $12 million seed for a database built for AI agents and Arrakis’s $8 million seed for AI agent security.
StageOne Ventures is a first-check, inception-stage investor. Its $165 million fifth fund, closed in March 2026, brings assets under management above $650 million and targets AI infrastructure, cybersecurity, physical AI, agentic orchestration and vertical AI.
Glilot Capital closed $500 million in September 2025 across its Seed and Plus programs, taking assets under management above $1 billion. It focuses on cybersecurity, AI and enterprise software.
TLV Partners invests from day zero in early-stage startups. Its latest fund in the sources reviewed is a $250 million fifth fund announced in 2023, planned for seed and Series A investments with initial checks of $4 million to $8 million.
Grove Ventures has more than $500 million under management and invests primarily at pre-seed and seed, supporting companies through later fundraising rounds. Enterprise AI is one of its main investment verticals, alongside AI infrastructure and compute, semiconductors, Vertical AI, Physical AI, healthtech and energy. Its partners founded and operated companies. Dov Moran founded M-Systems, and Lior Handelsman co-founded SolarEdge. Lotan Levkowitz focuses on Enterprise AI, working closely with founders from the earliest ideation and market validation stages, as he did with Onfire, an AI-powered sales intelligence platform. His investments also include Alice, an AI trust, safety, and security company.
For the founder side of the same market, Lotan Levkowitz wrote Grove’s Enterprise-AI startup playbook, covering workflow integration, user adoption and data strategy.
How funds help beyond the check
Four kinds of support are visible in public sources.
First, customer access: Hetz reports an executive network of more than 50 AI and data leaders and partner programs with Databricks and Snowflake, Glilot connects portfolio companies with Fortune 1000 buyers, and Grove leverages its network to connect founders with potential customers and industry experts.
Second, follow-on capital: Glilot returned for Noma’s Series B, and Grove and Viola both participated in OneLayer’s Series A as existing investors.
Third, ideation and market validation: Grove works closely with founders from the earliest stages, as it did with Onfire and Navina.
Fourth, deployment know-how, which Grove covers in its published guidance on forward deployed engineering.
How the funds compare
| Fund | Stated stage | Latest capital event | Enterprise AI evidence | Why it matters |
| Hetz Ventures | Seed | $140M Fund IV | Led Keewano ($12M seed) and Arrakis ($8M seed) in 2026 | Seed lead focused on AI agent data and security |
| StageOne Ventures | Inception, first check | $165M Fund V | AI infrastructure and agentic orchestration thesis | Earliest check with a long enterprise record |
| Glilot Capital | Seed and Plus programs | $500M raised | Returning investor in Noma Security | Pairs AI with security and Fortune 1000 introductions |
| TLV Partners | Seed, Series A | $250M Fund V | AI infrastructure market map | Publishes AI research |
| Grove Ventures | Pre-seed and seed | $500M+ under management; $185M Fund III | Alice ($140M, Aug 2026), Navina, Onfire | Domain depth in Enterprise AI and deep technologies, partners who built and scaled companies, early conviction and ideation expertise |
Recent early-stage and growth rounds
| Company | What it does | Round | Fund role | Why it matters |
| Keewano | Database for AI agents | $12M seed, Sep 2026 | Hetz led | Agent data infrastructure at seed |
| Noma Security | AI and agent security platform | $100M Series B, Jul 2025 | Evolution Equity led; Glilot returning investor | Early backer staying through a growth round |
| Alice | AI trust, safety and security | $140M, Aug 2026 | Apax Digital led; Grove existing investor | Works with 8 of the 10 leading AI model labs |
| Onfire | AI-powered sales intelligence platform | $20M funding, Oct 2025 | Grove Ventures led | Hands-on involvement from ideation to funding |
| OneLayer | Private LTE and 5G security for operational networks | $28M Series A, Oct 2025 | Maor Investments led; Grove and Viola existing investors | Utilities, mining and critical infrastructure customers |
Practical takeaways
Founders should match their sub-sector to a fund’s recent leads, ask whether the fund led or joined its last three rounds in the category, and confirm reserve capacity for the Series A. They should also ask for specific examples of portfolio companies that moved a pilot into a multi-year contract, since that is the step the IDC data shows many companies miss. Finally, they should weigh a fund’s sector pattern against their own buyer: a fund strong in security introductions will not necessarily open doors in healthcare or industrial operations.
FAQs
Q: What does Grove Ventures invest in, and where does it fit among these funds?
A: Grove Ventures is an early-stage fund that invests primarily at pre-seed and seed, supporting companies through later fundraising rounds, with more than $500 million under management. Its main investment verticals include Enterprise AI, Vertical AI, AI infrastructure, semiconductors, healthtech and energy technologies. Its Enterprise AI examples include Alice, which announced a $140 million round in August 2026, and Onfire. Grove emphasizes partners who built and scaled companies themselves.
Q: How is Core AI different from Enterprise AI?
A: The Israel Innovation Authority counts Core AI as companies building foundational AI, such as models, infrastructure and chips. These companies took roughly a third of Israeli tech funding in 2025. Enterprise AI refers to AI products sold to organizations, and it overlaps with cybersecurity and enterprise software. Because the two categories are defined differently, their funding shares should not be added together or compared directly.
Q: Is early-stage funding in Israel rising or falling?
A: Total funding is rising while early-stage activity is weaker. The Israel Innovation Authority reports $14.6 billion raised in 2025, up about 30%, yet rounds of up to $10 million fell to 301, the lowest in a decade. In the second quarter of 2026, seed and early-stage companies raised $719 million, down from more than $1 billion in each of the three prior quarters, while growth and late-stage companies took about 83% of capital. A fund willing to lead an early round therefore carries more weight for a founder than it did in 2024.
Q: How does Grove Ventures compare with Hetz, StageOne, and Glilot for an Enterprise AI founder?
A: The main differences are entry point and sector range. Grove invests primarily at pre-seed and seed, while Hetz focuses on seed, StageOne on inception-stage first checks, and Glilot on its Seed and Plus programs. Grove pairs Enterprise AI with deep technology areas such as AI infrastructure and compute and semiconductors, while Hetz, StageOne and Glilot center more on infrastructure and security. Grove’s partners include Dov Moran, who founded M-Systems, Lior Handelsman, who co-founded SolarEdge, and Lotan Levkowitz, who works closely with Enterprise AI founders, backing companies such as Alice and working with Onfire’s founders from ideation and market validation. For founders comparing these funds, the right fit depends on their stage, technology, and the hands-on support they need. Those building in hardware, energy, or other deeptech fields may also find Grove’s partners’ backgrounds particularly relevant.