The innovation of Israeli technology in defense fields continues to attract investors, leading to the establishment of a new Israeli defense-tech fund named "Stratos Ventures," which reports raising approximately $50 million with intentions to close the round at around $80 million in the coming months.
The fund has set a goal to invest in 15–20 Israeli startups at the pre-seed and seed stages with an initial investment ranging from $2–4 million in each company, and reports that it has already executed five initial investments to date.
The fund's anchor investor is reported to be an institutional body from the UK, and its other investors include family offices from the US, Europe, India, South America, Australia, and Israel, alongside Israeli and American entrepreneurs and Fund of Funds investors.
Stratos Ventures was founded just a few months ago (during 2026) and focuses on investing in companies from the fields of defense-tech, resilience, homeland security, critical infrastructure protection, data center solutions, supply chains, and cyber for governments.
The fund's founders and partners are Rotem Yehuda Kakon, Aviad Greenfeld, and Daniel Fouzailov. Kakon previously served as an advisor to Ministers Moshe Kahlon and Eli Cohen in the Ministry of Economy, and to Avi Gabbay in the Ministry of Environmental Protection, and starting from December 2021 led investments for the British family office Consensus Business Group, which reports managing approximately $1.2–1.5 billion.
Greenfeld has been active for about 15 years in the fields of defense and homeland security, and the fund stated that over the years he was involved in investments and exits in the defense sector such as: IRD, Skylock, MyDefence, and BeeSense, and Fouzailov is the grandson of Pinchas Fouzailov, one of the founders of the Diamond Exchange. Fouzailov has also been investing in Israeli innovation for some time, primarily in the deep-tech sector, within the framework of a family office.
The fund has several strategic partners including: Lieutenant General (Ret.) Michael D. Barbero, a four-star general in the US Army, who following his retirement in 2013 serves in several advisory and management positions, including the American branch of the Swedish defense giant SAAB and as an advisor to companies and governments in the Middle East region, with an emphasis on Saudi Arabia and the Kurdish region in Iraq, in the fields of security, energy, and infrastructure.
Alongside him, the fund states that there is a former head of the CIA, whose name the fund does not disclose "in light of a major role he currently holds," and Theo Williams, former head of strategic investments at Salesforce. The fund defines the team's role as "assisting the fund in formulating strategy, expanding the international network, and accelerating its growth."
The fund further reports that it has operations in the US in cooperation with The Lab Miami, which grants Israeli companies access to entities such as the Port of Miami, the US CENTCOM command, and more, alongside access to governments, decision-makers, and strategic investors worldwide.