US-based venture fund Striker Venture Partners, which recently raised $165 million, announced on Monday that it is entering the Israeli market to bet on the next generation of AI and cybersecurity startups in the country.

San Francisco-based Striker said the fresh capital will be invested into 10 young startups, five of which will be in Israel. The fund is looking to cut checks ranging from $5 million to $30 million each for young, early-stage startups in the areas of cybersecurity and AI, which have been getting the lion’s share of investor attention lately.

Striker was founded late last year by veteran investor Max Gazor, a former senior partner at US venture capital fund CRV, and Matan Lamdan, an investor at CRV. Lamdan, who manages the fund’s investments in Israel with a focus on cybersecurity, served for a decade in various roles in the Israeli army’s intelligence unit 8200 and the Intelligence Directorate.

“The fund’s advantage is our ability to make large investments at the pre-revenue stage while only committing to a small number of companies,” said Lamdan. “We deeply believe in the Israeli ecosystem and will invest up to half of our fund in Israel as a testament to this.”

Striker said the........

© The Times of Israel