Israel’s 2026 National AI Strategy
The Israel Innovation Authority and National AI Directorate released a 2026 National AI Strategy that redirects the country’s AI ambitions from building massive foundation models to exploiting its depth in AI‑native applications, infrastructure, physical AI and geopolitical alliances. Building on the earlier TELEM programme—budgeted at roughly NIS 1 billion (≈$270 million)—the plan defines four pillars and stresses that "excellence outweighs scale." It highlights sectors where Israel already leads, such as cybersecurity, fintech, digital health and defence, and points to high per‑capita usage of Anthropic’s Claude as a cultural advantage. The strategy also seeks to embed Israel in global AI supply chains like Pax Silica.
The Chokepoint Thesis: Moats, Affordance and Diffusion
Edward Fishman's 2025 book defines modern chokepoints as non‑substitutable domains dominated by a single actor, such as the US dollar, advanced chips, or SWIFT. The article applies this concept to venture capital, warning that startups can be crippled by negative...
AI-Native Services: The New Startup Playbook
AI-native services are redefining the startup playbook by turning professional outcomes into software‑driven products. Instead of selling tools to lawyers, accountants or brokers, founders are building companies that own the workflow and deliver the finished work—contracts, books, policies, or hires—through...
Hello World: Why I Built IsraelVC
The founder of VC Cafe launched IsraelVC.com, a free, curated directory of active Israeli venture capital firms. After two decades of building visibility for Israel’s “Silicon Wadi,” the ecosystem now faces a signal problem—founders struggle to locate the right investors...
How AI’s Impact on Software Is Pushing VCs From Bits to Atoms
Venture capital is moving away from pure software as AI coding assistants commoditize code, eroding traditional software moats. The resulting "SaaS‑pocalypse" is prompting investors to hunt for scarcity in physical assets—datacenters, robotics, defense, and advanced manufacturing. Deep‑tech and hardware funding...
Why the “SaaSpocalypse” Is More Hype Than Obituary
The article debunks the "SaaSpocalypse" hype, arguing that AI agents and vibe coding are transformative but not fatal to SaaS. While agentic AI offers faster development, it brings serious security flaws, token‑driven cost spikes, and code‑quality issues. SaaS spending is...
Israel’s Most Promising Startups in 2026
The 2026 Calcalist Top 50 rankings show Israel’s startup ecosystem pivoting from lightweight software tools to autonomous AI workers and core infrastructure. Agentic AI accounts for 24% of the list, while AI‑infrastructure firms make up 18%, and quantum computing rises to...
VC Is Being Rewired by AI
Artificial intelligence is rapidly rewiring venture capital, moving the industry from a manual, relationship‑driven model to data‑centric automation. Firms such as Hustle Fund now review up to 700 deals a month using tools like Zapier and Airtable, while others employ...
The Anthropic Question Has Replaced the Google Question
Anthropic has vaulted from near‑zero revenue in early 2024 to a $30 billion ARR run‑rate, eclipsing most Fortune 500 firms and achieving an unprecedented revenue‑per‑employee ratio. Its four flagship offerings—Mythos/Project Glasswing, Claude Code, Claude Cowork, and the newly launched Claude Design—are reshaping cybersecurity, software development, productivity,...