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Protego Ventures Closes $125M Fund for Israeli Defense Tech
Confirmed
In Short: Protego Ventures, led by Lital Leshem and Lee Moser, has closed its debut fund with $125 million to invest in startups addressing defense and security needs.
Protego Ventures, co-founded by Lital Leshem and Lee Moser, has completed its first fund with $125 million in commitments, focusing on Israeli defense and security startups.
The fund will invest between $5 million and $50 million per company, aiming to bolster Israel's defense capabilities in the wake of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack.
According to Leshem, the firm's $30 million investment from Ares Management allowed Protego to start investing immediately.
The Israeli market's ease for insiders, combined with the founders' extensive networks, has facilitated Protego's rapid growth.
Leshem emphasized, 'Everything changed on October 7,' highlighting the shift in focus towards defense technology.
Israeli authorities have awarded VC firms Adir Capital and Sling Capital about $33 million in state guarantees to invest in military and dual-use technologies.
Protego plans to launch its second fund in the first quarter of 2027, backed by Israeli institutional investors and a major U.S. commitment.
The firm's decision to cap its fund at $125 million rather than the $150 million target was strategic, aiming to maximize returns from potential high-impact investments.
Nimble Ventures led the round, with additional participation from Calculus Venture Capital, Entrepreneur First, and LM Ventures, Lockheed Martin’s venture capital fund.
Protego's focus on defense tech aligns with a broader trend, as defense and venture capital are increasingly overlapping.
Defense tech VC dealmaking set a record in Q1 2026, with new VC firms emerging globally to invest solely in defense startups.
Protego Ventures positions itself as the first and largest dedicated defense tech VC in Israel, led by two women.
What this adds
The firm's decision to cap its fund at $125 million rather than the $150 million target was strategic, aiming to maximize returns from potential high-impact investments.
Protego's focus on defense tech aligns with a broader trend, as defense and venture capital are increasingly overlapping.
Protego Ventures positions itself as the first and largest dedicated defense tech VC in Israel, led by two women.
What's confirmed
- The round was led by Nimble Ventures, a US-based venture investor, with participation from other investors including Calculus Venture Capital, Entrepreneur First and LM Ventures, Lockheed Martin’s venture capital fund.
What's still developing
- Still, the Israeli market is easier to navigate for insiders, and Protego’s two founders are leaning into their networks.
- Last day to demo your breakthrough to 10,000+ tech leaders is on Oct 2.
- Defense and venture capital used to rarely overlap, but that’s no longer the case.
- That’s also why Protego stopped short of its $150 million target: a smaller fund magnifies the impact of a single big win on overall returns, and with XTEND now looking like a potential “fund maker” — a single investment capable of returning the whole fund — raising more capital would only dilute that upside among a larger pool of investors.
- John Burbank, founder of Nimble Ventures, said, “CloudNC’s automation of CNC will enable massive increases in onshoring of manufacturing and global production of mission-critical components.” The company reports that its technology is currently used by more than 1,000 machine shops globally, including hundreds in the US.
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- Qualcomm Ventures participated in the financing alongside U.S.
- As the creator of the Nier games ventures forward into directing an upcoming run on Neon Genesis Evangelion, he’s going to be keeping fans of the series on their toes.
- The funding comes a month after the company said it raised $250 million, co-led by Index Ventures and Benchmark, valuing the company at $2.5 billion at the time.