Monday brought a heavy flow of news from the Israeli tech ecosystem, led by Monday.com's new venture arm, advanced acquisition talks for Payoneer, and a massive fundraising round for Cyera.
Monday Ventures: $200 million for Israeli AI startups
Monday.com announced the launch of monday Ventures, its first dedicated investment arm for Israeli startups, with a total allocation of $200 million. The initial deployment of $50 million is subject to board approval for further expansion.
The fund will focus on Israeli startups building AI technologies for the future of work, from early-stage through growth. Individual investments will range from $1 million to $5 million per company, across areas including AI-powered enterprise applications, AI agents, enterprise data, cybersecurity, workflow automation, and deep AI technologies.
"About six months ago we made the most significant change in Monday.com's history, updating our vision from a work management platform to an agent-based AI platform that actually gets work done," said co-founder and co-CEO Roy Mann. "Launching monday Ventures is a direct continuation of that vision."
The arm is already active: in recent months Monday.com led the seed round for Blocks.diy, an AI platform founded by former employees; participated in Guidde's Series B of roughly $50 million; and joined a $12 million seed round for NanoCo, which is building an open-source platform for secure AI agents.
The move comes with Monday.com's stock down roughly 47% year-to-date, as the broader AI shift reshapes the software landscape.
Payoneer nears $2.7 billion exit
Canadian payments company Nuvei is in advanced talks to acquire Israeli-American fintech Payoneer in a deal valued at approximately $2.7 billion, according to two sources cited by Reuters.
The enterprise value is estimated at roughly $2.3 billion after deducting cash holdings. A deal could be signed in the coming days, though negotiations are ongoing and may not result in a final agreement.
Payoneer was founded in 2005 by Yuval Tal. Headquartered in New York, the company employs approximately 1,000 people at its Israeli R&D center out of a global workforce of 2,500. It recorded $1.05 billion in revenue in 2024, up 8% year-over-year.
The acquisition would combine Nuvei's processing infrastructure with Payoneer's cross-border payment systems used by suppliers, freelancers, and merchants worldwide, and strengthen Nuvei's position in emerging markets.
Cyera raises $600 million at $12 billion valuation
Israeli cybersecurity company Cyera announced last week the completion of a $600 million funding round at a $12 billion valuation — quadruple its valuation from its previous round a year and a half ago.
Cyera develops a platform that helps organizations monitor what their AI systems are doing and which data they access. The company says roughly 68% of organizations cannot distinguish between employee actions and AI agent actions within their systems.
"Trust begins with a clear understanding of what AI systems can see and what they are capable of doing," said co-founder and CEO Yotam Segev. The company has raised over $2.3 billion to date, employs more than 1,500 people across 18 countries, and reports tripling annual recurring revenue (ARR) for three consecutive years.
The round was led by Evolution Equity Partners, with participation from Israeli cybersecurity fund Cyberstarts and Singaporean sovereign fund Temasek. Existing investors including Sequoia, Blackstone, Accel, and Coatue also participated.
Cyera's growth demonstrates how Israeli tech can profit from the AI wave without building foundation models — a playbook an increasing number of startups are trying to follow.
Bottom line
Monday's Israeli ecosystem news cycle captures the market's breadth: Monday.com, already a NASDAQ-traded company valued in the billions, is investing back into the next generation of startups; Payoneer, one of the mature Israeli fintech names, is close to an exit that could deliver solid returns; and Cyera shows that Israeli companies can build AI giants without their own large language models.
