Israel vs. The Markets: A VC Explains Why It Keeps Winning ft. Yevgeny Gelfand of Alumni Ventures

If you want to know where global investors get Israel wrong, ask someone who has built billion-dollar businesses and now backs founders for a living.

Yevgeny Gelfand is a serial innovator and business builder who spent 15 years in financial services and SaaS, launching and operating new businesses that either exited through IPO or grew privately into multi-billion-dollar operations. After that run, he shifted into venture investing, backing and scaling startups across sectors and geographies.

Yev, now a Partner at Alumni Ventures, joins IsraelTech to explain why so many investors still misread both the real risk and the real opportunity inside Israel’s tech economy.

From New York’s political shifts to the quiet support he sees for Israeli founders, he shares what he’s observing firsthand:

• Why global investors still misprice Israeli companies

• How the economy strengthened after two difficult years

• Why experienced investors treated October 7th as a moment to pay attention, not a moment to pull back

• The reactions he gets wearing a kippah across the US

• What happens when founders pitch during a rocket alert

• And why he believes Israel is positioned to become a major center of tech

If you want a grounded look at Israeli innovation, how VCs actually make decisions, and what may be coming next for the ecosystem, this conversation offers clarity most people don’t have.

🎙 Hosted by Yoel Israel

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