YL Ventures

YL Ventures Research Document

Executive Summary

YL Ventures is a specialized venture capital firm dedicated exclusively to cybersecurity innovation. Managing $800 million across five funds, the firm has established itself as a leading seed-stage investor in Israeli and global cybersecurity startups. Founded nearly two decades ago, YL Ventures combines deep domain expertise with hands-on company building and unmatched access to C-suite security leaders (CISOs), enabling founders to accelerate from concept to category leadership.

Investment Thesis

YL Ventures operates from a singular thesis: exceptional Israeli cybersecurity founders, backed by deep domain expertise and access to Fortune 500 security leaders, can build companies that define how the world defends itself.

The firm explicitly focuses on Israeli founders, leveraging Israel's unique position as a global cybersecurity innovation hub—particularly due to the technical talent pipeline from Israeli intelligence and military backgrounds. YL Ventures serves as the primary bridge connecting Israeli founders to US and global enterprise customers, investors, and talent.

Sector and Stage Focus

Sector Specialization: Cybersecurity Only

YL Ventures invests exclusively in cybersecurity across ALL subcategories:

• Cloud Security: Orca Security (agentless CNAPP), Native (multi-cloud unified security), Eureka (DSPM—acquired by Tenable)
• Identity & Access: Opti (AI-native IAM), Spera (ISPM—acquired by Okta), Hush (machine identities/secrets management)
• Data Security: MIND (DLP/IRM), Satori (data governance—acquired by Commvault), Valence (SaaS/AI security)
• Application Security: Minimus (supply chain/container hardening), Miggo (application detection & response), Cycode (ASPM), Enso (ASPM—acquired by Snyk)
• Offensive/Defensive: Novee (AI purple team), Hunters (AI-driven SIEM), MCPTotal (MCP governance), Grip (AI+SaaS security)
• Specialized Domains: Medigate (medical device security—acquired by Claroty), Build Security (authorization—acquired by Elastic)
• Infrastructure: Twistlock (container security—acquired by Palo Alto Networks)

Stage Focus: Seed-to-Early Series A

YL Ventures' primary focus is seed-stage funding, making Fund V ($400M, closed 2022) the "largest seed fund ever raised for cybersecurity." The firm:

• Rarely follows into later stages but maintains a reserve (typically 30-50% of fund allocation) for follow-on investments in proven companies
• Leads seed rounds in the $1-5M range
• Occasionally participates in Series A rounds for existing portfolio companies showing strong product-market fit and customer traction
• Pre-seed participation is rare; focuses on teams with traction or strong founders with prior exits

Check Size and Investment Patterns

Check Size Range: $500K - $5M

• Seed round lead: Typically $1-3M
• Series A participation: Up to $5M for exceptional portfolio companies
• Check size minimum: $500K (rare, usually with co-investors)
• Recent notable investments:
  • Opti: $20M seed (Nov 2025, led YL)
  • Novee: $51.5M seed (Jan 2026, led YL—largest cybersecurity seed ever)
  • Hush: $11M seed (Sep 2025, led YL)
  • Native: Led seed round (2024)

Lead Tendency

Profile: LEADS most investments YL makes

• YL Ventures leads 85%+ of its seed investments
• Typically first institutional investor for Israeli founders
• Actively shapes rounds and terms
• Does NOT do follow-on-only participation—when YL invests, it leads
• Exception: Does participate in Series A rounds as co-lead or strong participant when portfolio company demonstrates exceptional product-market fit

Decision Process

Decision Model: Partnership-driven with clear investment committee structure

• Primary decision makers: Yoav Leitersdorf (Managing Partner), Ofer Schreiber (Senior Partner), Kirk Manoogian (Partner)
• Committee structure: Investment decisions made by the partnership; all three partners typically involved in seed rounds
• Timeline: 2-4 weeks from first meeting to commitment (for strong Israeli founders with traction)
• Due diligence focus: Team pedigree (Israeli defense/intelligence background preferred), market timing, founder determination, CISO advisory board validation
• Involvement: Board seat standard; hands-on operational support from day one

Recent Activity and Fund Status

Deployment Status: Actively Deploying

YL Ventures is in active deployment phase across Fund V ($400M, closed 2022). The fund is now in its 4+ year deployment cycle with estimated 3-5 years remaining.

Recent Investments (2025-2026):

1. Novee (Jan 2026) - $51.5M seed, AI purple team/offensive security
2. Opti (Nov 2025) - $20M seed, AI-native IAM
3. Hush (Sep 2025) - $11M seed, machine identities
4. MIND (2023) - Data loss prevention, RSAC 2025 Innovation Sandbox finalist
5. Miggo (2023) - ADR, Gartner Cool Vendor 2025
6. MCPTotal (2021) - MCP governance platform (still private)

Exit Track Record (Portfolio Highlights):

• Unicorns/Mega-Exits: Orca Security ($2B+ valuation, CNAPP category leader), Axonius ($1B+, CAASM pioneer)
• Strategic Acquisitions:
  • Spera → Okta ($100M+, 2024)
  • Satori → Commvault (2025)
  • Vulcan Cyber → Tenable (2025)
  • Eureka → Tenable (2024)
  • Aim Security → Cato Networks (2025, largest AI-cybersecurity acquisition)
  • Twistlock → Palo Alto Networks ($410M, 2019)
  • Hexadite → Microsoft (2017)
  • Enso → Snyk (2023)
  • Medigate → Claroty (2021)
• Total portfolio companies: 38+ active, 87 investments lifetime

Notable Metrics:

• Israeli cybersecurity funding in 2025: 130 Israeli cyber startups funded ($4.4B total—record high)
• YL's market position: Top 10 cybersecurity VC globally (PitchBook), Top 25 VCs in America (TIME 2025)
• Portfolio concentration: Heavy focus on Israeli-founded teams (80%+ of portfolio)

Team Structure

Investment Team (3 decision makers):

• Yoav Andrew Leitersdorf - Managing Partner, founder/leader
• Ofer Schreiber - Senior Partner, hands-on operational support
• Kirk Manoogian - Partner

Operations & Support:

• Nadav Lev - CTO (in-house technical expertise for security evaluation)
• Dave Reed - CFO
• Merav Ben Avi - VP Marketing
• Gye Cohen - VP Operations and HR
• Maeve Juday - Associate
• Adi Greenwald - Associate
• Or Salom - Analyst
• Shiloh Shaeffer - Chief of Staff

Key Support Structure:

• Advisory Board: 25+ veteran CISOs, security executives, and founders
• Network: Formal CISO advisory network with hands-on mentorship, customer introductions, and go-to-market validation

Value Add and Support Model

YL Ventures provides three pillars of value:

1. Domain Expertise

• In-house CTO (Nadav Lev) provides technical guidance on product architecture and security approach
• Hands-on startup building: Ofer Schreiber is widely known for operational mentorship (go-to-market, hiring, fundraising)
• Market knowledge: Deep understanding of enterprise security buying cycles, CISO priorities, compliance requirements

2. Company Building Support

• Go-to-market strategy: Help founders position products, define initial customer segmentation, create early sales playbooks
• Hiring: Facilitate intros to security talent (many Israeli entrepreneurs living in US), executive recruitment
• Fundraising: Help structure Series A rounds, introduce to growth-stage VCs

3. CISO & Buyer Network Access

• Advisory board: 25+ active CISOs serving as product advisors, pilot customers, reference calls
• Customer introductions: Direct intros to Fortune 500 CISOs and security teams for pilots and early adoption
• Strategic partnerships: Facilitate introductions to channel partners, integrators, go-to-market partners
• Validation: Early customer references and case studies

Geographic Focus

• Primary: Israel (HQ, talent, founders) + Silicon Valley / San Francisco (customer base, capital)
• Secondary: New York (emerging hub for cybersecurity innovation—home to Opti, Minimus, MIND, Miggo headquarters)
• Tertiary: Seattle (some cloud security investments: Orca Portland HQ, but founders Israeli)
• International: Selective Tel Aviv-based founders entering US market

Founder Preferences and Thesis

Ideal Founder Profile:

1. Israeli background (military/intelligence/tech industry experience)
2. Prior exit or domain expertise (have "shipped" in security before)
3. Technical founders (at least one founder has deep security architecture background)
4. Solving real pain points for Fortune 500 CISOs
5. Willing to split time between Israel (ecosystem, talent) and US (customers, capital)

Anti-Thesis:

• Non-security focused
• Founders without startup or security industry experience
• Consumer-focused security (YL invests enterprise-only)
• Point solutions that don't scale to category-defining platforms

Conclusion

YL Ventures represents a unique combination of seed-stage capital, deep cybersecurity domain expertise, and access to a curated network of 25+ Fortune 500 security leaders. The firm's singular focus on cybersecurity—and overwhelming preference for Israeli founders—has allowed it to build category-defining companies like Orca Security and Axonius. With $800M under management and a proven playbook combining Israeli talent with US market access, YL Ventures remains one of the most influential cybersecurity-focused VCs globally.

For Israeli cybersecurity founders with strong technical backgrounds and validated product-market fit, YL Ventures offers not just capital but a pathway to rapid customer validation, strategic hiring, and category-defining growth through their unmatched CISO network.