Even in the third consecutive year of war and geopolitical uncertainty, Israeli tech continues to prove that it doesn’t just survive – it leads at the forefront of global technology. Blue-and-white entrepreneurship and innovation remain the core around which every particle of the ecosystem that has grown here over the past decades revolves.
Forbes Israel’s 2026 list of promising startups presents an exceptional group of young companies that are already promising to lead technological revolutions at the cutting edge of technology and science, across the most diverse fields – from quantum computing and AI chips, through enterprise and e-commerce AI, to gaming and digital health.
More than 80 leading funds and investors in Israel and around the world took part in Forbes Israel’s project. The recommendations yielded more than 150 companies that stood out with a relatively high number of mentions.
Classiq, which develops software for programming and designing quantum computing models; Majestic Labs, building a revolutionary AI chip architecture aimed at going head-to-head with Nvidia; ZyG, bringing AI-agent-based automation to the world of e-commerce; Sensi.AI, which uses artificial intelligence to monitor the health and wellbeing of senior citizens; or Qodo, which developed AI tools that help developers write code – each of these companies is the essence of Israeli innovation and initiative, each in a different, unique field, and each seeking to bring a distinct solution to the evolving needs of the global market.
Together, the companies on the list have raised roughly a billion and a half dollars in funding. They employ hundreds of people and work with top-tier clients around the world – from the largest technology giants to healthcare institutions, financial bodies and global game developers. They operate in fields that will change the face of the world over the coming decade – and perhaps most importantly, they prove that even in times of uncertainty, Israeli talent, entrepreneurial spirit, and the ability to innovate continue to place Israel at the center of the global innovation map – and along the way, aspire to build the next billion-dollar companies.
The Promising Startups of 2026
(In alphabetical order)
Appcharge
Sector: Gaming commerce infrastructure
Founders: Maor Sasson (CEO); Roei Barassi (General Manager)
Funding: $89 million (latest round: $58 million Series B)
Employees: ~150 (~115 in Israel)
Founded: 2022
Lead investors: IVP, Creandum, Playrix, Smilegate, Play Ventures, Glilot Capital Partners, BITKRAFT, Moneta, Corundum
Classiq
Sector: Quantum computing software, quantum software engineering and enterprise quantum application development
Founders: Nir Minerbi (CEO), Amir Naveh (CPO), Dr. Yehuda Naveh
Funding: Over $200 million (latest round: $110 million Series C)
Employees: 130 (100 in Israel)
Founded: 2020
Lead investors: Entrée Capital, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, AMD Ventures, Qualcomm Ventures, IonQ, Norwest, NightDragon, HSBC, NEVA-Intesa Sanpaolo, Samsung Next, Team8, Wing Venture Capital
Majestic Labs
Sector: AI computing infrastructure for data centers
Founders: Ofer Shacham (CEO); Sha Rabii (President); Masumi Reynders (COO)
Funding: ~$100 million (latest round: $90 million Series A)
Employees: ~50 (25 in Israel)
Founded: 2023
Lead investors: Lux Capital, Bow Wave Capital, Hetz Ventures, Grove Ventures, QP Ventures, TAL Ventures
Onyx
Sector: AI Security
Founders: Maxim Bar Kogan (CEO), Gil Elbaz (CAIO)
Funding: ~$150 million (latest round: $113 million Series B)
Employees: 100 (~half in Israel)
Founded: 2024
Lead investors: Cyberstarts, Conviction, Bessemer
Port
Sector: Software development infrastructure and Agentic SDLC
Founders: Zohar Einy (CEO); Yonatan Boguslavsky (CTO)
Funding: $158 million (latest round: $100 million Series C)
Employees: 250 (150 in Israel)
Founded: 2022
Lead investors: General Atlantic, Accel, Bessemer Venture Partners, TLV Partners, Team8
Qodo
Sector: AI platform for code review and code governance
Founders: Itamar Friedman (CEO); Dedy Kredo (CPO)
Funding: ~$120 million (latest round: $70 million Series B)
Employees: ~130 (50+ in Israel)
Founded: 2022 (formerly CodiumAI)
Lead investors: Qumra Capital, Susa Ventures, Square Peg, Vine Ventures, TLV Partners
Sensi.AI
Sector: Health tech / AgeTech / vertical AI
Founders: Romi Gubes (CEO), Nevo Alamalem (CTO), Alon Brenner (CRO)
Funding: $100 million (latest round: $45 million Series C)
Employees: ~150 worldwide (~60 in Israel)
Founded: 2019
Lead investors: Qumra Capital, Zeev Ventures, Insight Partners, Entrée Capital, Flint Capital, Jibe Ventures, Secret Chord Ventures
Unframe
Sector: Enterprise AI solutions
Founders: Shai Levi (CEO); Larissa Schneider (COO); Adi Azarya (VP R&D)
Funding: $100 million (latest round: $50 million Series B)
Employees: ~200 (~70 in Israel)
Founded: 2024
Lead investors: Highland Europe, Bessemer Venture Partners, Craft Ventures, TLV Partners, Third Point Ventures, Cerca Partners, Vintage Investment Partners
Vega
Sector: AI-based cybersecurity platform for real-time detection and investigation of threats directly within an organization’s storage environment
Founders: Shai Sandler (CEO), Eli Rosen (CTO)
Funding: $185 million (latest round: $120 million Series B)
Employees: 150 (85 in Israel)
Founded: 2024
Lead investors: Accel, Cyberstarts
ZyG
Sector: Agentic platform scaling e-commerce products end-to-end
Founders: Omer Kaplan (CEO), Assaf Ben Ami (CFO & COO), Dr. Eyal Amitt (CTO), Omri Steinmetz (CDO), Nadav Ashkenazi (CRO), Daniel Shenar (Chief Strategy Officer), Guy Tzur (Chief Product Officer), Tomer Bar Zeev (Chairman)
Funding: $118 million (latest round: $60 million Series A)
Employees: 80, all in Israel
Founded: 2025
Lead investors: Accel, Bessemer Venture Partners, Lightspeed, Viola Group, Felix Capital
Our Methodology: How We Rank
To compile the Next Billion Dollar Startups list, we consulted leading investors and managers at Israel’s largest and most important venture capital funds – firms with proven track records as significant players in the field. They were asked to recommend companies with the highest likelihood of reaching a billion-dollar valuation: two from their own investment portfolios, and two more they have no stake in. More than 80 leading funds and investors in Israel and around the world took part in the project, yielding recommendations for more than 150 companies that stood out with a relatively high number of mentions.
In the second stage, the Forbes team weighed additional business data and parameters, along with an analysis of investor quality, the recommending funds’ track records, and the degree of consensus around each company, to compile the final list of companies we believe have the best chance of breaking the billion-dollar valuation barrier – and joining Israeli tech’s most prestigious club.
Funds and Investment Firms That Participated
10D Ventures • Accel • Aleph • Alumni Ventures • aMoon Fund • Ballistic Ventures • Bessemer Venture Partners • Blumberg Capital • Cardumen Capital • Cerca Partners • Corundum Fund • Craft Ventures • Cyberstarts • Dell Technologies Capital • Disruptive AI • Entrée Capital • F2 Venture Capital • Flint Capital • Fresh Fund • Fusion VC • General Atlantic • Glilot Capital Seed • Glilot+ • GoAhead Ventures • Greylock Partners • Grove Ventures • GSV Ventures • Hetz Ventures • Hyperwise Ventures • Ibex Investors • ICI Fund • IL Ventures • Index Ventures • Insight Partners • iAngels • Izaki Ventures • J-Ventures • Key1 Capital • Lama Partners • Lightspeed Venture Partners • lool ventures • Maor Investments • Maverick Israel • Mayfield • Merlin Ventures • Meron Capital • Mindset Ventures • Moneta VC • NFX • NightDragon • Notable Capital • OG Venture Partners • OurCrowd • PeakBridge VC • Peregrine Ventures • Pitango • PSG Equity • QED Investors • Qino Cyber Capital • Qumra Capital • Red Dot Capital Partners • Salesforce Ventures • Sarona Ventures • Sequoia Capital • SentinelOne Ventures • StageOne Ventures • State of Mind Ventures • SV Angel • Swish Ventures • TAU Ventures • Team8 • Third Point Ventures • Tiger Global • Today Ventures • TLV Partners • UpWest • Valley Capital Partners • Vertex Ventures • Vine Ventures • Viola • WiL (World Innovation Lab) • YL Ventures • Zeev Ventures
