UpWest

Raising your first round in 2025? You’re not alone if it feels tougher than ever.

The rules are changing -- this session will help you navigate the process with clarity, confidence, and focus.

Join UpWest Founding Partner Gil Ben-Artzy for a hands-on masterclass, co-hosted with Startup for Startup, built for early-stage founders. We’ll break down what today’s investors are really looking for, how to prep and tell your story right, and how to run a smarter raise.

We’ll also talk about why not fitting the “classic founder mold” can be your edge, and when raising from angels (or not raising at all) might be the better starting point.

Expect 90 minutes of honest advice, tactical tips, and open Q&A. Come with questions, leave with tools you can actually use.

Spots are limited >> grab yours here: https://www.startupforstartup.com/events/fundraising-masterclass-tactics-timing-and-truths-for-2025/

What does it really take to break into the US market?

Join UpWest’s founding partner Gil Ben-Artzy and Jacques Benkoski of U.S. Venture Partners for a candid conversation on how early-stage investors think about opportunity. They’ll share perspectives on today’s evolving landscape, how shifting dynamics are influencing priorities, and what founders should keep in mind when raising capital.

This fireside chat will be followed by Jacques’s hands-on Masterclass, built on his practical and proven Market Entry Strategy framework, covering key steps from defining positioning and messaging to crafting a sales strategy and scaling.

Finally, we'll wrap up with a Q&A session on GTM in the U.S.

Big thanks to Ignite DeepTech for co-hosting this event with us.

** SPOTS ARE LIMITED ** | 🔗 SIGN UP HERE: https://bit.ly/42gxJvx

🗓️ Tuesday, May 6 at 5:00 PM | 📍 Ignite DeepTech – Azrieli Tower, Tel Aviv

Proud to see Shely Aronov, Co-Founder & CEO of InnerPlant, named in Inc. Magazine’s 2025 Female Founders 500 list highlighting women leaders who are driving their industries forward and making a global impact. 🌱

http://inc.com/female-founders/2025

Congratulations to team Metis on your acquisition by Dynatrace!

It’s been an exciting journey partnering with co-founders Roee Kriger and Itay Braun from the very beginning, and supporting them on their mission to help engineers better manage their databases.

We are looking forward to seeing what’s next for you.

🔗 More here 👉https://www.dynatrace.com/news/blog/dynatrace-metis-helping-developers-sres-solve-database-issues-with-ai/

We’re excited to announce our investment in Darwin as they emerge from stealth, co-leading their Seed round with Resolute Ventures.

Governments and state agencies touch the most important parts of our communities, from public safety and housing to education and healthcare. As they increasingly leverage AI in their workflows, striving to operate more effectively and drive greater impact, the critical need for secure AI infrastructure rapidly rises.

We’re thrilled to be partnering with Noam Maital for the second time at UpWest, alongside co-founder Asaf Fadida, who together bring deep expertise in AI, cybersecurity, and public sector innovation on their mission to provide governments and state agencies with a roadmap to AI adoption, helping them securely scale AI while maintaining oversight and compliance.

Congratulations, Darwin!

🔗 Read more here 👉 https://www.govtech.com/biz/darwin-breaks-into-public-sector-ai-with-5m-seed-round

Thank you to the 120+ founders who joined us for our Vertical AI mini conference earlier this week! Hosted just after the Deepseek news rocked the markets and took over our feeds, it felt like the perfect time to host leading investors and founders for a series of discussions on building massive Vertical AI companies in this constantly evolving landscape.

Here are our 3 key takeaways from the day (among others):

🔑 Choosing industries that have significant entry barriers (regulation, niche expertise, or even conservative buyers, etc.) can hold bigger opportunity than those that seem easy to break into.

🔑 Today, as LLMs become commoditized and technology is less of a differentiator on its own, having access to unique, unstructured, and non-public data could be the strongest unfair advantage at your disposal.

🔑 Service-oriented industries are well positioned for disruption as agentic AI workflows can replicate human tasks and provide end-to-end services rather than just increase human efficiency like Saas

Thank you to everyone who joined us, and to NVIDIA and GUTS - Harel Innovation hub for co-hosting this event with us.

We look forward to next time! 🙌

Noam Maital, Darwin | Roee Moked, Wisery Labs | Ofir Krakowski, Deepdub | Gilad Gershon, NVIDIA | Lia Cromwell, UpWest | Yonatan Mandelbaum, TLV Partners | Ariel Sterman, Bessemer Venture Partners | Liron Fogler Mendelson | GUTS - Harel Innovation hub

Calling all AI entrepreneurs! 📢

Join us at the GUTS - Harel Innovation hub along with NVIDIA for Vertical AI: The Next Frontier.

Packed with practical advice, this event is an opportunity to come together with other founders, industry experts, and investors under one roof and dive into one of the strongest trends we expect to continue seeing in 2025 – the future of Vertical AI startups.

Don’t miss out >> sign up here: https://lu.ma/164tv0ht

Noam Maital, Darwin | Roee Moked, Wisery Labs | Ofir Krakowski, Deepdub | Gilad Gershon, NVIDIA | Lia Cromwell, UpWest | Yonatan Mandelbaum, TLV Partners | Ariel Sterman, Bessemer Venture Partners | Liron Fogler Mendelson | GUTS - Harel Innovation hub

We’re proud of Eyal Feldman, Stampli CEO & Co-Founder, for being named #10 in Comparably's list of Best SMB CEOs of 2024. Well deserved! 👏

Eyal Feldman on LinkedIn: Stampli's Eyal Feldman Named #10 Best CEO of 2024 | 17 comments I’m honored to be recognized by Comparably as one of the Top CEOs, and I owe it all to the incredible team behind me. Thank you for your dedication, passion… | 17 comments on LinkedIn

As we reflected on the past year and looked ahead to 2025, our team kept coming back to three specific insights.

If you're starting a new venture in 2025, check out the lessons we believe every founder should know. And yes, AI made its way into this list… more than once :-)

Read our thoughts here 👉 https://medium.com/upwest-labs/what-wed-share-with-every-founder-ahead-of-2025-ad6da6546ed6

This month, we’re opening UpWest Office Hours with our investment team to help you tackle the big (and small) questions surrounding fundraising, US go-to-market, and anything else that comes to mind.

Whether you’re already building your startup or still shaping an idea, we’re here to offer our insights & advice and help you move forward.

Let’s make it happen >> Apply here: https://forms.gle/vHq6qU3DQKaJE6dq7

Ben-Artzy | Galili | Lia Cromwell | Neeman