Roadshow+ 2023“2023 was the year of chaos - but also the year of resilience”
Roadshow+ 2023
“2023 was the year of chaos - but also the year of resilience”
Investors joined CTech on a panel at Roadshow+ reflecting on the last year and contemplating what to expect from the ecosystem in 2024.
CTech's James Spiro with Guy Yamen, Tal Yatsiv, and Hadar Siterman Norris
(Video: Sinai David)
“2023, which we are not even done with yet, is a year we will be very glad to be departing from,” said Guy Yamen, Founder and Managing Partner at TPY Capital. “In fact, it seems like it’s been a few years rolled into one. Since October 7 we are in a whole new different ball game… I will try to summarize it with one word: the year of chaos - but also the year of resilience.”
Yamen was making the following remarks during a panel run by CTech at Calcalist and Poalim Tech’s Roadshow+ event. He was joined by Team8 Partner Hadar Sitman Norris and PICO Venture Partners General Partner Tal Yatsiv, who each also shared insights about the challenges faced by startups and investors in a year that started with the internal struggle of proposed judicial overhaul and ended with an all-out war with Hamas.
“Resilience is a word you will hear from many people at this event, from investors and definitely entrepreneurs,” he continued. This is a year that had challenges and had stretched our entrepreneurs in the ecosystem more than anything that they had experienced.”
The Roadshow+ event welcomed 18 Israeli startups who had been selected from more than 200 applicants to pitch their companies to prominent investors in the Israeli and global investment arena. As the year draws to a close and 2024 begins, there remains a looming challenge as Israel battles the uncertainty of its ongoing war and how it will impact the confidence of investors overseas.
“We're not feeling it,” said Yatsiv when asked about investor hesitance since October 7. “Are we concerned about it? Of course. Investors don’t like additional risk and ambiguity, and war presents additional risk and ambiguity. I can say we have not felt concerned: our investors specifically at PICO have been massively supportive, and it has been a pleasure both emotionally and from a business standpoint… We have felt that the key investors that are very active in Israel have done it over time, earned that trust in a mutual way, and are continuing to invest in Israel right now.”
For many startups, the double whammy of a macro downward turn partnered with a new war on local soil will be too much to bear. Several companies are seeing upward of 30% of their workforces on army duty and struggling to extend their financial runway to last until late next year. However, Team8’s Norris stressed that many Israeli companies can ride the positive trend seen in the U.S. and prepare for easier times ahead.
“In the world, we are seeing the beginning of a positive shift from a macro perspective,” she explained. “We are seeing it among our portfolio companies from a customer perspective and revenue perspective. On the Israeli front, what we're seeing once again is the resilience and nimbleness of the Israeli companies, of Israeli culture, of Israeli founders, and we will continue to see it. The companies have changed in the last two months. Everyone had to assess what their needs are and what their priorities should be, as they’ve done in the past through COVID-19 and different cycles. It does make them more resilient and, in a way, they’re used to it. 2024 should be a good year in terms of new early-stage companies emerging, it should be fairly positive for growth companies as macroeconomics improve.”
You can watch the entire panel in the video above.
