Hanaco Ventures

Hanaco Ventures Research

Investment Thesis

Hanaco Ventures is an Israeli venture capital firm founded in 2017 by Alon Lifshitz and Tiferet Lifshitz, named in memory of Hana Cohen, a Holocaust survivor and Alon's grandmother who raised him. The firm manages over $2 billion in assets across six funds and has invested in more than 60 technology companies across all stages.

Hanaco's thesis centers on backing exceptional founders — primarily from Israel — building transformative companies in cybersecurity, fintech, artificial intelligence, digital health, hardware, and infrastructure. The firm operates two distinct investment vehicles: Hanaco Early, targeting early-stage companies in Israel and the US, and Hanaco Growth, targeting mature companies with proven revenues at pre-M&A or pre-IPO stages.

Their tagline — "Founder Fuel. Built for Big Ideas" — captures their ethos: decisive, hands-on partnership with builders from first check through exit. Hanaco is known for high-conviction investing, making introductions others can't, giving feedback others won't, and staying committed when other investors walk away.

Sector Focus

Hanaco focuses on five core sectors where Israeli founders have structural advantages:

• Cybersecurity: MSP security, enterprise application security, hardware attack prevention, cloud vulnerability remediation (Guardz, RevealSecurity, Sepio, ZEST Security, CHEQ)
• Fintech and Payments: Corporate spend management, digital banking infrastructure, currency hedging, fintech-as-a-service, payment aggregation (Pontera, Cross River, Curve, Grain, EasySend, Fundbox)
• Enterprise Software and AI: Conversational AI for healthcare, cloud asset management, customer journey analytics, AI recruiting, customer support AI (Hyro, Firefly, Wandz.ai, GoPerfect Match, Quack)
• Infrastructure and Deep Tech: GPU-accelerated data warehouses, purpose-built analytics processing units, blockchain compliance, nuclear batteries for frontier environments (Sqream, Speedata, Solidus Labs, Zeno Power, Chain Reaction)
• Digital Health: Neurorecovery therapeutics, AI preventive medicine, patient simulation, medication management, orthodontic care (BrainQ, Livez, Edocate, MDI, Candid)

Impact investing is also a noted strand: SpotItEarly (AI-powered early cancer detection via trained dogs) and Redefine Meat (3D-printed alternative protein) represent Hanaco's willingness to back ventures with social as well as commercial missions.

Stage Focus

Hanaco invests across the full company lifecycle through its two parallel fund families:

• Hanaco Early: Pre-seed through Series A/B for early-stage companies primarily in Israel and the US
• Hanaco Growth: Series C through pre-IPO and late-stage for mature companies with proven revenues

This dual mandate is unusual and gives Hanaco the ability to back companies at formation and continue following on through growth and exit.

Check Size

Investment range is broad given the dual mandate:

• Early stage: approximately $2M–$15M
• Growth stage: approximately $15M–$100M

Recent lead investments confirm growth-stage capacity: Zeno Power $50M Series B (May 2025), Curve £37M (March 2025), Guardz $56M Series B (June 2025).

Lead Tendency

Hanaco actively leads rounds across both early and growth stages. Confirmed lead investments include:

• Led Zeno Power's $50M Series B (May 2025)
• Led Curve's £37M round (March 2025)
• Led GoPerfect's $23M seed (February 2025)
• Participated in Guardz's $56M Series B (June 2025)
• Participated in Carbyne $100M round (2025)

Fund Status

In June 2025, Hanaco announced it would stop raising new capital and has no plans to launch additional funds. The firm is winding down its fundraising activity to focus on nurturing its existing $2 billion portfolio. However, investments from existing committed capital are still being made — Guardz's Series B closed in June 2025 and Zeno Power's Series B closed in May 2025 — indicating active deployment from existing fund vehicles is ongoing.

Founded in 2017, Hanaco raised six funds total (three early-stage, three growth-stage) from private and institutional investors across Israel, the US, Europe, and Asia before the wind-down announcement.

Recent Activity

Key investments and exits from 2024–2025:

• February 2025: Led GoPerfect's $23M seed round (AI recruiting platform)
• March 2025: Led Curve's £37M round (digital wallet fintech)
• May 2025: Led Zeno Power's $50M Series B (nuclear batteries for space and maritime)
• June 2025: Participated in Guardz's $56M Series B (MSP cybersecurity)
• June 2025: Announced wind-down of new fundraising activity

Notable exits:

• September 2025: Via IPO on NYSE (ticker: VIA) at $3.65B valuation
• September 2025: Amount acquired by FIS
• November 2025: Carbyne acquired by Axon for $625M

Portfolio Highlights

Hanaco has backed over 60 companies across sectors. Notable names include:

• Major exits: Moovit (acquired by Intel for $1B), Divvy (acquired by bill.com), DigitalOcean (IPO, NYSE: DOCN), Amwell (IPO, NYSE: AMWL), Via (IPO, NYSE: VIA, September 2025), Amount (acquired by FIS, September 2025), Carbyne (acquired by Axon for $625M, November 2025), Cnvrg.io (acquired by Intel), Puls (exit), Fondue (exit), Sayata (acquired by Penn-America)
• Active growth-stage: Pontera, Cross River, Lightricks (unicorn), Flex, Yotpo, Castore, Speedata, CHEQ, Remilk, Route, Curve
• Active early-stage: Guardz, Hyro, Firefly, ZEST Security, Zeno Power, Quack, Grain, Muvan AI, GoPerfect Match, BrainQ, Wandz.ai, Solidus Labs
• Impact: SpotItEarly (AI cancer detection), Redefine Meat (3D-printed alternative protein)

Team

• Alon Lifshitz - Co-Founder and General Partner. Based in Tel Aviv. Former Managing Director at Blumberg Capital, where he led the Tel Aviv office. Portfolio at Blumberg included Yotpo, Fundbox, Biocatch, Intsights, DoubleVerify. Prior to VC worked as a global technology scout for European and Japanese corporations, building relationships with Softbank, Fujitsu, NTT, Vodafone, and British Telecom. Focus at Hanaco: cyber, fintech, marketing tech, enterprise software.

• Lior Prosor - Co-Founder and General Partner. Based in New York. Former General Partner at Elevator Venture Capital (led US presence); previously investor at Pitango Venture Capital. Invested in Via, Lemonade, Talkspace, HoneyBook, DigitalOcean, SweetGreen. Focus: consumer-facing startups, AI, blockchain, Israeli founders building US companies. Holds LLB and LLM from IDC Herzliya; served as Captain in Israeli Paratroopers.

• Tomer Jacob - General Partner, Hanaco Growth. Former Managing Director at UBS Investment Bank and member of UBS's Executive Committee for EMEA. Over 21 years in corporate finance, trading, and technology research. Advised Warburg Pincus, TDR Capital, Rhone, BC Partners. Focus: growth-stage investments (UVeye, Castore, Speedata).

• Gabi Heller - Chief Financial Officer & Partner. Based in Herzliya. Former CFO at The Trendlines Group (eight years, led two IPOs in Canada and Singapore). Previously CFO at Walden Israel Ventures ($185M AUM). Began career at EY. Oversees fund's finance, legal, and reporting.

• David Frankel - Partner. Based in New York (Long Island). Former Senior Associate at ff Venture Capital (NY seed-stage firm). Began career at Ernst & Young advising financial services companies. Leads deal flow, due diligence, and portfolio support. MBA with high honors from UCLA Anderson; BS from Yeshiva University (Magna Cum Laude).

• Daniel Ferber - Investor. Israel-based member of the investment team.

Geographic Focus

Hanaco is deeply rooted in the Israeli tech ecosystem with its primary office in Herzliya, Israel. The firm's New York office (15 West 26th Street, 9th Floor) anchors its US operations, where Lior Prosor and David Frankel are based. The firm selectively invests in Europe — Curve is UK-based and Castore is a UK sportswear brand. Primary focus: Israel and the United States.

Decision Process

Partnership-based with General Partners collaborating on deal evaluation. Hanaco prides itself on being decisive — their marketing emphasizes "less talking, more building" and moving "with intent" rather than "in herds." The firm positions itself as a bold, contrarian investor willing to back founders before they trend.

Founder Preferences

Hanaco gravitates toward exceptional technical founders building in areas of deep structural disruption. Many portfolio founders are Israeli-born or Israeli-trained, though the firm backs strong founders globally. Values repeat entrepreneurs, founders with operator pedigrees (ex-Tier 1 tech companies, military intelligence units), and companies with both commercial and social impact potential.