A study that examined 424 startups (private and VC-backed companies) and 70 venture capital (VC) funds that are active in Israel presents captivating data about women in the Israeli startup/tech ecosystem.

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The research reveals that the average percentage of women represented in the companies studied is 33%. However, representation of women changes based on the size of the company. Not surprisingly, larger companies tend to have higher percentages of women employees (36%) than smaller companies do (30.8%), numbers that appear to support the claim that it is harder for smaller companies to ensure a diverse workforce.

Larger companies also have larger operating systems and can put more resources into recruiting efforts, and have a greater need for human resources, legal, finance, and support jobs – positions for which women are frequently hired.

When it comes to actual tech jobs, only 27% are filled by women, with some variance depending on the company's field of specialization. The digital health sector had the most robust female representation, with women comprising 45% of employees or more at over 60% of the companies studied. Women hold at least 35% of leadership roles in digital health companies.

But overall, women hold less than one-quarter (23.4%) of leadership roles (C-level jobs, vice presidents, directors) in startup companies.

The sub-sectors of Israel's startup/technology landscape that employ the fewest women are cybersecurity, automotive, electronics, and telecommunications. The percentage of women employees in these sectors ranges from 27% to 18%.

When it comes to the driving force behind the startup industry, venture capital, only 14.8% of the partners in the 70 VC firms studies are women, and only 9% of investing partners in those companies are women.

The data were collected by the Power in Diversity initiative, a project that partners with over 220 VC funds and startup companies to promote diversity and inclusion. PID was founded by Alan Feld, funding partner at Vintage Investment Partners. Kobi Sambursky, funding partner at Glilot Capital Partners, and Sivan Shamri Dahan, managing partner and co-founder at Qumra Capital, co-chair the initiative.

"The report highlights a point of view about women working in the ecosystem which is both critical and credible. Undoubtedly, the situation is far from satisfactory. Women should fulfill many more of the leading roles in companies and VC," Dahan said.

"There is no reason why the makeup of the human factor in the ecosystem should not represent the number of women in the general population, and, furthermore, the number of qualified women for these roles. Start-ups should focus on recruiting more employees of underrepresented populations and PID is here to help them," she added.

Shahar Silis, managing director at PID, said, "Many companies are unaware of the diversity measures of their employees as well as the representation rate in the various populations.  We hope that showcasing the companies that are doing this successfully by allocating considerable resources to the implementation of diversity programs and focusing on expanding the pool of candidates that are underrepresented in the workforce will serve as an inspiration to organizations that are interested in doing more."

Sambursky said he believed that "2022 will be the Year of Diversity for our startup industry."

According to Sambursky, the Israeli startup ecosystem has seen an "extraordinary" few  years in terms of funding, IPOs, and unicorns, but the sector still has much work to do when it comes to diversity.

"Like startups, VC must also be proactive by employing many more women, Ethiopian Jews, Orthodox Jews, Arabs, individuals with disabilities, and other populations. The first step is full transparency," Sambursky said.

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TAU Ventures, the investment fund of Tel Aviv University, has announced raising a second fund of $50 million for investments in startups, with the opportunity to grow the fund to $70 million.

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The fund invests in early financing stages, often investing the first money in the company or after angel investment, a stage where there is a shortage in the industry.

The fund intends to invest in 15 to 25 companies founded by Israeli entrepreneurs, with investment amounts up to $1 million per venture as a first investment.

TAU Ventures emphasizes creating value for entrepreneurs with various university resources. The fund focuses on backing strong teams of entrepreneurs across a wide range of sectors, understanding that at an early stage the product is expected to change.

All investors from the previous fund have reinvested in the current fund. Both funds were led by Chartered Group, which brings together many leading entities from the Japanese industry, plus new investors, including Family Offices in the US, Canada and Europe.

TAU Ventures was established in 2018 by managing partner Nimrod Cohen in conjunction with Tel Aviv University. Cohen previously led first investments at companies such as HOUSEPARTY, Coralogix, WSC SPORTS, BRINGG & YOTPO.

Alumni of Tel Aviv University are ranked 5th globally as top university producing VC-backed entrepreneurs and 8th in the world in creating unicorn companies.

TAU Ventures' first fund, which included $20 million, launched in 2018 and made 18 investments in companies that included: SWIMM, Xtend, Gaviti, MyAir, Castor, Medorion and more. The first fund IRR is in the top 10% compared to all US funds from the same size and vintage.

According to Cohen, "We are in a period where a lot of money is circulating in the market. However, this can be misleading as there is still a shortage of investors in the early stages in Israel. More investors are operating in A or post-seed stages. They do not talk to entrepreneurs in the initial stages and rather want to see a product that has already reached the market. We are covering this critical stage enabling new companies to emerge."

Tel Aviv University President Ariel Porat said, "As part of Tel Aviv University's strategic plan, we have made it a central goal to strengthen ties with industry here as well as promoting an international and multidisciplinary campus. TAU Ventures provides for entrepreneurs a platform with significant opportunities in innovation and making academic progress beyond the campus boundaries. It enables students to integrate practical experience with leading startups during their studies, and at the same time, it enables entrepreneurs to enjoy the diverse qualities of the campus. I'm happy in the given trust of the investors in TAU Ventures and I'm sure that combining forces between academia and industry will provide in the near future significant technological achievements that will benefit the entrepreneurs, the university and society at large."

Eyal Agmoni, who heads lead investor Chartered Group, said, "We are happy and proud to be the lead investor also in the second fund of TAU Ventures. As a result of the success of the first fund, combining with proving the model in which we help young Israeli companies break into the Japanese market, it was natural to continue the successful cooperation and even strengthen it."

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Meron Capital announced today the closing of Meron II, its second $50 million fund to invest in early-stage deep-technology software startups led by Israeli entrepreneurs. The new fund will target 18-20 pre-seed and seed investments in startups that are building software-based solutions for enterprise, cybersecurity, digital health, fintech, DevOps and more.

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Meron Capital launched its inaugural fund in 2017 and has invested in 16 startups to date. Four have already made successful exits: AIOps startup Loom Systems was acquired by ServiceNow; API integration platform Reshuffle was acquired by Twitter; digital health company Clear Genetics was purchased by Invitae; and IoT startup Axonize was acquired by Planon.

In addition, 10 more have so far raised further financing with startups Immunai, Solugen and Armory alone disclosing combined investments in excess of $300 million to date.

"We see ourselves as a startup investing in startups – we are creative, scrappy and move fast," said Liron Azrielant, Managing Partner at Meron. "We share the same spirit as our founders and that's why we founded our own firm and chose to face the challenges of being an emergent in a market of incumbents."

Azrielant, who served in the IDF's elite technological Unit 8200 and then earned a BA in math and physics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, then went on to MIT, where she was the youngest-ever applicant accepted to the school's LGO dual-degree program, where she completed an MBA as well as an MA in computer science and electrical engineering.

She started her career as a software engineer but then moved over to the business side as a consultant, advisor and then investor at Bain, PwC and finally, Blumberg Capital. After leaving Blumberg In 2017, she and Daniel Roditi launched Meron Capital. Azrielant also manages the Young Venture Capital Forum, an education non-profit connecting over 250 young VC professionals from all firms in Israel.

Roditi was born and raised in Switzerland and started his career in finance and banking before joining a commodity trading software startup as one of the first employees. He came to Israel in 2015 to pursue an MBA at Tel Aviv University, and joined Blumberg Capital as part of their Tel Aviv-based investment team. He and Azrielant left together to build Meron Capital. At 29, he is the youngest venture capitalist in Israel to found his own fund.

In the current Israeli climate of record-breaking fundraising and exits, the Meron Capital team works with talented founders, helping them ideate their early conceptions and build out their teams.

"We don't necessarily expect our founders to be in a position yet to sell us on their idea. We will take a bet on their team, and work with them to crystallize their idea and help them approach customers, prospective employees, and later stage VC firms," explained Roditi.

What are Azrielant and Roditi looking for in startup founders? "Our typical founders are either tech superstars or an established expert in their space," says Azrielant, while Roditi adds, "The most important quality is tremendous resilience and fortitude. You have to be able to push back against negative or distracting feedback but at the same time, be perceptive and pick up on subtle criticism by experts who might be sugarcoating their true thoughts."

Meron II has already invested in four companies: LendAI, operating in the market of mortgage lending, where Meron was joined by Israel's third-largest bank; Sorbet, the first PTO clearinghouse, in a deal they closed together with Viola; Firmbase, a fintech startup in which top angels have invested; and Laminar, the first data protection platform for cloud-native applications, where they invested alongside TLV Partners and Insight Partners.

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