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Global Venture reaches new record in H1 2026 and Israeli startups raised $8.4 billion in this period
Published 21 days ago • 2 min read
The Weekly Dispatch
Top posts from this week
Happy Friday,
Yesterday marked 1,000 days since October 7th. Despite everything Israel has endured over the past three years, its technology ecosystem continues to build, innovate and attract global capital. As the U.S. celebrates Independence Day this weekend, it's also a reminder of the deep strategic partnership between the two countries—not only in defense, but increasingly in AI, semiconductors and innovation.
This week, that was reflected in Israel's ambitious new AI strategy, another strong batch of funding announcements and continued global appetite for AI infrastructure. Meanwhile, H1 2026 closed with $8.4 billion raised across 129 disclosed rounds, making it one of the strongest first halves on record.
This week reinforced three trends I'm increasingly convinced will define the next decade.
First, capital continues concentrating. Global startup funding reached approximately $510B during H1, while AI infrastructure companies continue attracting billion-dollar rounds.
Second, AI has become a geopolitical race. Governments are now discussing sovereign compute, custom chips, national data centres and industrial policy almost as much as frontier models.
Third, the hyperscalers aren't slowing down. Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Anthropic and OpenAI all made significant announcements this week, reinforcing that the battle is increasingly about infrastructure, distribution and enterprise adoption,not just better models.
Happy 4th to those celebrating!
Eze
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What Israel can learn from Asia's innovation playbook
Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Singapore show that the next phase of innovation is not just about producing startups. It is about turning startups, talent, infrastructure and national strategy into durable technological advantage.
The government wants 100,000 GPUs, sovereign AI infrastructure and national strength in Cyber AI, Physical AI and deepfake defense. The opportunity for startups is in the layers Israel can actually win.
The venture market feels healthier today than it did twelve months ago. Not because capital is flowing everywhere. Because conviction is back.
The best founders are raising quickly. The best infrastructure companies are attracting enormous rounds. Governments are beginning to treat AI as strategic infrastructure.
The next decade won't be defined by who builds another chatbot. It will be defined by who owns the infrastructure that everyone else depends on.
Have a great weekend and happy 4th to those celebrating!
Eze
Chart of the week:
Crunchbase News reports that global venture funding hit a record $510 billion in H1 – with OpenAI and Anthropic alone accounting for 43% of the total – as IPOs and M&A rebounded and billion-dollar rounds spread into AI infrastructure, defense, robotics, and healthcare. More here. https://news.crunchbase.com/venture/global-startup-exits-ipo-ma-soar-ai-q2-h1-2026/?
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The Weekly Dispatch Top posts from this week This week felt like a milestone for venture capital. Global VC funding reached a record $510 billion in the first half of 2026, driven almost entirely by AI. In the US alone, AI accounted for roughly 86% of venture investment, while OpenAI, Anthropic and a handful of frontier companies continue to absorb an unprecedented share of capital. Mega-rounds are no longer the exception—they're becoming the norm. The same story is playing out in Israel....
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