What MizMaa Ventures does

MizMaa Ventures is an early-stage, thesis-driven venture capital firm founded in 2016 by Isaac "Yitz" Applbaum and Catherine Leung to invest in Israeli deep-technology entrepreneurs and bridge them to global markets. The firm manages $240 million in assets under management across approximately 33 portfolio companies and 7 successful exits. MizMaa's investment theses span Cloud, Cybersecurity, Mobility, Artificial Intelligence, Fintech, Digital Health, and Gaming, with notable portfolio holdings including Coro (cybersecurity), Aurora Labs (AI-based vehicle software), Orca AI (maritime AI navigation), Anima (design-to-development), Autofleet (vehicle-as-a-service), Hyperspace (vector search infrastructure), Syte (visual AI for retail), and Tenet Security (agentic AI security). The firm has invested in rounds ranging from $6M seed deals to a $72.5M Series B participation in Orca AI.

The firm operates from three offices — Rothschild Boulevard 27 in Tel Aviv, 225 Bush Street in San Francisco, and 42/F Lee Garden One in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong — giving portfolio companies direct access to North American, European, Middle Eastern, and Asian markets. The name "MizMaa" combines the Hebrew words "Mizrach" (East) and "Maarav" (West), reflecting the cross-border mandate. MizMaa generates revenue through conventional VC mechanics: management fees on its $240M AUM and carried interest on exits, which have included acquisitions by Samsung (Corephotonics), Check Point (Protego Labs, Spectral), Leddartech (Vayavision), Starburst, Mimecast (Solebit), VMware, and Reef Technologies.

The leadership team comprises co-founders Applbaum (former Lightspeed Venture Partners partner, based in Silicon Valley) and Leung (former Vice Chairman of Asia Investment Banking at JP Morgan, based in Hong Kong), Partner Aaron Applbaum running the Israel practice, Operating Partner Rick Kaplan (30-year IBM veteran and former Israel Country GM), Vice President Aviv Kerbel covering R&D/Cloud/Cyber, and Head of Operations Sarit Konikov. The firm is registered as an Israeli limited partnership with 1–10 employees.

Name

MizMaa Ventures

Legal name

MizMaa Ventures

Website

https://mizmaa.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

MizMaa Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm managing $240 million in assets across approximately 33 portfolio companies, focused on Israeli deep-technology entrepreneurs in cybersecurity, AI, mobility, fintech, digital health, and gaming, with operations in Tel Aviv, San Francisco, and Hong Kong.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Early-Stage Venture Capital

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (52394), Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940), Finance and Insurance (52)

SIC

Finance Services (6199), Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Regional / Country-Focused Multi-Manager Platforms (FSANAGAI)

Keywords

• Early-stage venture capital
• Israeli deep-technology investment
• Thesis-driven venture investing
• Cybersecurity startup funding
• Global market expansion support

Headquarters

HQ city

Tel Aviv

HQ country

Israel

HQ region

Middle East

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

MizMaa Ventures is an early-stage, thesis-driven venture capital firm that invests in Israeli deep-technology entrepreneurs building solutions in Cloud, Cybersecurity, Mobility, AI, Fintech, Digital Health, and Gaming. The firm provides long-term investment capital, strategic introductions to customers and investors, and hands-on advisory support across fundraising, hiring, and go-to-market strategy. MizMaa manages $240M in assets under management across 33 investments and 7 exits, operating from Tel Aviv, San Francisco, and Hong Kong to bridge Israeli innovation with global markets in North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.

Product overview

MizMaa Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm that does not offer products or services in the traditional sense. The firm provides investment capital, strategic advisory services, and market access support to Israeli deep-technology startups across six investment theses: Cloud, Cybersecurity, Mobility, Artificial Intelligence, Fintech, and Digital Health. MizMaa's portfolio comprises approximately 33 companies spanning early-stage investments through successful exits, including companies such as Coro (cybersecurity), Aurora Labs (AI-based vehicle software), Orca AI (maritime navigation AI), Anima (design-to-development platform), Autofleet (vehicle-as-a-service), Hyperspace (AI acceleration), and Syte (visual AI for retail). The firm operates from offices in Tel Aviv, San Francisco, and Hong Kong, facilitating global market access for its portfolio companies.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Aleph Venture Capital: Israeli early-stage venture capital firm investing across software, AI, and deep-tech sectors with similar thesis-driven approach. Both firms focus on Israeli founders and emphasize global market access.
• Pitango Venture Capital: One of Israel's largest and most established VC firms with multi-stage investments in deep-tech, cybersecurity, and enterprise software. Directly comparable on Israeli focus and stage diversification.
• Jerusalem Venture Partners (JVP): Israel-based early-to-growth VC with strong emphasis on cybersecurity, AI, and enterprise technology. Highly comparable given overlapping thesis areas and Israeli founder focus.
• Vertex Ventures Israel: Israel arm of the global Vertex network, investing in Israeli early-stage startups across enterprise software, AI, and digital health. Comparable on stage, geography, and global bridge function.
• StageOne Ventures: Israeli seed-stage VC focused on enterprise software and deep-tech founders. Closely comparable on stage, sector focus, and Israeli founder sourcing approach.
• 10D: Israeli early-stage VC focused on seed investments in enterprise and deep-tech startups. Direct peer given multiple co-investments with MizMaa in seed rounds (e.g., Blast Security).
• Maniv Mobility: Israeli early-stage VC specializing in mobility and transportation technology. Overlaps with MizMaa's mobility thesis and shares the Israeli/global investment bridge model.
• OurCrowd: Israel-based venture platform with broad early-stage exposure across enterprise, fintech, cybersecurity, and deep-tech. Comparable as an Israeli-focused multi-vertical investor.
• Team8: Israel-based cybersecurity and enterprise tech builder-investor. Closely comparable given shared cybersecurity thesis, deep-tech orientation, and Israeli founder sourcing.

Regional players

• Cardumen Capital: Israel-focused fund-of-funds and direct VC investor with international LPs. Adjacent to MizMaa given shared Israeli ecosystem exposure and global investor relationships.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/mizmaa-ventures

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments43 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about MizMaa Ventures