How early-stage funds in Israel support enterprise AI founders between a first pilot and a production deployment, with a three-fund comparison.
A proof of concept or pilot is a time-limited test of a product inside one customer, usually one department, against a defined success metric. Production means the product is running in live customer workflows on an ongoing basis, with measurable impact the buyer can demonstrate internally. The gap between the two is mostly organizational: procurement, change management and the loss of an internal champion.
Published conversion estimates
| Source | What it measured | Result |
| IDC with Lenovo | AI proofs of concept reaching wide-scale deployment | 4 of every 33 |
| Lenovo CIO Playbook 2026 | AI proofs of concept progressed into production | 46% |
| MIT Project NANDA | Organizations seeing measurable return from generative AI | About 5% saw return, 95% did not |
IDC’s authors attributed low conversion to organizational readiness in data, processes and IT infrastructure. The first two figures track the progression of proofs of concept toward deployment or production, so they are the closer fit for a startup assessing how often a pilot moves toward a production contract. The third counts financial return from generative AI initiatives and covers a different population.
Three ways funds contribute
Customer access. Funds with enterprise networks introduce founders to buyers able to run a real pilot and to references who can vouch for the product during procurement.
U.S. go-to-market hiring. Several funds encourage a dedicated go-to-market function early, including U.S.-based sales staff, on the reasoning that American enterprise buyers often respond differently to a local presence.
Follow-on capital and syndicate building. Funds can help startups access additional capital and investor relationships as they work to scale deployments.
Portfolio evidence from public sources
- Alice (AI trust, safety and security; formerly ActiveFence): $140 million round in August 2026 led by Apax Digital, with Grove among the participating investors.The company works with 8 of the 10 leading AI model labs, including Anthropic, Google and Cohere, and is approaching $100 million in annual recurring revenue.
- Opmed.ai (AI-powered healthcare operations optimization): Raised a $15 million Series A in May 2024, co-led by Grove Ventures and NFX. Its platform has been implemented at Geisinger, achieving 96% scheduling accuracy in daily case predictions, and the company has also worked with Mayo Clinic on improving surgical scheduling.
- Onfire provides an AI-powered platform for B2B sales teams. In October 2025, it announced $20 million in total funding, including a Series A co-led by Grove Ventures and TLV Partners. Within a year of launching its beta, Onfire had secured dozens of customers, including Aiven, Cyera and Spectro Cloud, and helped generate more than $50 million in closed deals for its customers.
Comparison: Glilot Capital, TLV Partners and Grove Ventures
| Attribute | Glilot Capital | TLV Partners | Grove Ventures |
| Stage | Seed and growth (Glilot Seed, Glilot+) | Seed and Series A | Pre-seed and seed, with follow-on support |
| Size | About $1 billion under management | $250M Fund V and about $1 billion AUM | More than $500 million |
| Stated focus | Cybersecurity, AI and other B2B software | Developer tools, AI, cybersecurity, fintech, biotech | Enterprise AI, Semiconductors, AI infrastructure and compute, Vertical AI, Physical AI, Healthtech, Energy |
| Operator background | Founded 2011 by Kobi Samboursky and Arik Kleinstein | Founded 2015 by Rona Segev and Eitan Bek, formerly at Pitango. | Dov Moran (M-Systems, acquired by SanDisk for about $1.6B in 2006); Lior Handelsman (SolarEdge) |
| Portfolio evidence | At-Bay (cyber insurance), Cider Security (acquired by Palo Alto Networks) | Run:ai (AI compute), Aidoc (clinical AI) | Enterprise AI: Alice ($140 million round), Opmed.ai (Series A lead by Grove), Navina (Series C follow-on), Onfire ($20 million in funding, led by Grove) |
Grove’s advantage combines expertise in Enterprise AI and deep technologies, partners with experience building and scaling companies, hands-on involvement from ideation and market validation, and early conviction in founders before a trend is widely recognized. Dov Moran founded M-Systems, which SanDisk acquired for about $1.6 billion in 2006, and Lior Handelsman founded Nasdaq-listed SolarEdge . Grove’s Enterprise AI portfolio includes companies such as Alice, Onfire, Navina and Opmed.ai. Its hands-on involvement can begin at the ideation and market validation stages, as demonstrated through its early work with the founders of Onfire and Navina.
Glilot’s focus lines up with security and B2B software buyers. TLV Partners’ portfolio spans developer tools, AI infrastructure and clinical AI. Grove combines expertise in Enterprise AI and deep technologies with hands-on support from experienced partners.
Selection criteria for founders
- Ask the fund for named portfolio companies that converted a pilot into a multi-year contract.
- Check whether the fund encourages U.S. go-to-market hiring and has helped a company do it.
- Match the fund’s sector pattern to your buyer, not only to your technology.
- Confirm check size, lead or co-lead behavior and reserves directly, since several are not publicly specified.
- Ask which partner would work with you and what that partner has built.
FAQ
Q: What share of enterprise AI pilots reach production?
A: It depends on the study. IDC with Lenovo reported 4 of 33 proofs of concept reached wide-scale deployment in 2025, the 2026 Lenovo CIO Playbook reported 46%progressing into production. These studies use different measures and do not establish a single conversion rate for enterprise AI startups.
Q: Can a venture fund move a startup from pilot to production?
A: A fund can provide introductions, references, hiring guidance and follow-on capital. It cannot fix a pilot without a measurable problem or replace the startup’s integration work.
Q: How should founders compare Israeli seed funds?
A: Compare stage, sector pattern, named portfolio evidence, partner backgrounds and any publicly stated check size, and mark undisclosed items as unknown.
Q: Which verticals does Grove Ventures invest in?
A: Its main verticals include Enterprise AI, Semiconductors, AI infrastructure and compute, Vertical AI, Physical AI, Healthtech and Energy.