Protego Ventures closes debut $125 million fund for Israeli defense tech

Defense and task superior utilized to seldom overlap, but that’s nary longer the case. Defense tech VC dealmaking set a grounds successful Q1 2026, and caller VC firms person emerged astir the satellite to put solely successful defence startups.

One of these is two-year-old Protego Ventures, which presents itself arsenic the archetypal and largest dedicated defence tech VC successful Israel. Led notably by 2 women, Lital Leshem and Lee Moser, it has conscionable completed the last adjacent of its debut money with $125 cardinal successful superior commitments, TechCrunch learned exclusively.

This money size is enabling Protego to put betwixt $5 cardinal and $50 cardinal per company, with a absorption connected startups “addressing the captious defence and information needs of Israel and the planetary community,” according to its website.

These see the likes of drone shaper XTEND, its archetypal portfolio company, which went nationalist connected the NYSE earlier this month. That’s besides wherefore Protego stopped abbreviated of its $150 cardinal target: a smaller money magnifies the interaction of a azygous large triumph connected wide returns, and with XTEND present looking similar a imaginable “fund maker” — a azygous concern susceptible of returning the full money — raising much superior would lone dilute that upside among a larger excavation of investors. “Nobody wants to stock the pie,” Leshem said.

Ares Management is 1 of Protego’s biggest backers. The concern steadfast suggested that Leshem and Moser articulation forces and commencement Protego successful the aftermath of the October 7, 2023, Hamas onslaught connected Israel, with the condemnation that caller technologies would beryllium cardinal to boosting Israel’s defence capabilities successful the look of caller threats, Leshem said.

With a $30 cardinal concern arsenic a constricted partner, Ares gave Protego the enactment it needed to commencement investing close away, Leshem said. Besides XTEND, its portfolio besides includes startups specified arsenic ASIO, which develops situational consciousness systems and has partnered with Anduril.

Leshem says the reception successful defence circles has been strong. “On the subject side, determination is simply a batch of respect, and radical are coming — adjacent nether the radar — to speech to us, to larn from us, to bid with us, and for definite get our exertion and innovation.”

Still, the Israeli marketplace is easier to navigate for insiders, and Protego’s 2 founders are leaning into their networks. Moser, a seasoned task capitalist, volition stay a managing spouse astatine the generalist VC steadfast AnD Ventures. As for Leshem, who co-founded a startup that was acquired for $625 million successful 2025, she besides brings 11 years of acquisition successful the subject and quality tract to their approach.

“Everything changed connected October 7,” Leshem told TechCrunch. She was deployed, portion pregnant, arsenic a reservist connected the time of the attacks. “And fundamentally until the transportation room, I was there, witnessing and getting the first-row spot to however the battlefield acted otherwise from what I knew successful the past decade.”

Protego won’t person the tract to itself for long. Israeli authorities person taken announcement of the aforesaid shift, awarding VC firms Adir Capital and Sling Capital about $33 million successful authorities guarantees to put successful subject and dual-use technologies, with other funds also raising superior for akin bets. (Leshem said Protego was excessively acold on successful its ain fundraising to instrumentality portion successful the government’s tender.)

Protego, meanwhile, is already readying its adjacent move: a 2nd money successful the archetypal 4th of 2027, backed by Israeli organization investors and 1 ample U.S. committedness Leshem has already secured, with a broader scope that includes early-growth American defense-tech companies.