Meet our guests this week:
(01:35) Zeevi Michel, General Partner, Elaia
On the shekel, VC, startup runway, and the outbound M&A opportunity for Israeli companies.
(11:53) Yoav Kolodner, CEO, Tribal
On enterprise AI adoption and what agentic actually means in production - from low tech to high tech companies
(24:00) Gil Hakim, CEO, Matricelf
Reversing paralysis, regenerative medicine, and a coming NASDAQ dual listing
Stories inside this Weekend Edition
01 | The shekel tightrope
The Bank of Israel cut rates 25bp to 3.75, the third cut since November. Finance Minister says it’s not enough. Governor Yaron is threading a needle: a strong shekel anchors inflation but is punishing tech companies paying salaries in shekels on dollar-denominated budgets.
“An early-stage startup that just raised $5 million basically had their runway cut by 25%. If they were planning 18 months, they now have 12.”
- Zeevi Michel, General Partner, Elaia
02 | Outbound M&A: the unexpected winner
The same strong shekel that squeezes startups is supercharging Israeli companies with shekel revenues, particularly defense-tech firms, on acquisition targets abroad. Zeevi sees a wave of Israeli outbound deals building.
“Local companies with shekel revenues are now buying abroad while their purchasing power is at its strongest. I foresee a lot of Israeli companies acquiring international companies.”
- Zeevi Michel
03 | Banking gets a regulatory overhaul
The Knesset is advancing a corporate credit database to open SME lending to alternative funds. The Capital Markets Authority is forcing all non-bank lenders and BNPL firms into full digital transparency on fees and terms. The opacity era is ending.
“We have a very unsophisticated financial system in Israel. Finally catching up to what exists in the US will create great benefit for consumers.”
- Zeevi Michel
04 | Enterprise AI: blasting past demos, into production
Tribal, which came out of stealth with customers like WalkMe and Adama, argues the enterprise AI adoption problem is not about enthusiasm but integration. Companies are done with chatbots and POCs. They want agents that act across sales, service, HR, and operations.
“In 2023 enterprises maybe deployed a simple chatbot. Now they’re looking for agents that actually do things: serve customers, sell, improve internal operations. The aspirations are much higher.”
Yoav Kolodner, CEO, Tribal
05 | Reversing paralysis by 2027?
Matricelf (TASE: MTLF) is targeting first-in-human implantation for spinal cord injury in H1 2027. The technology uses a patient’s own fat and blood cells to grow neural tissue that’s transplanted back to the injury site, no immunosuppressants required. Partnerships with Shiba and Japan signed. NASDAQ dual listing in Q4 2026.
“You are curing something that has never been cured before. It’s not just another drug. This is a breakthrough in how we look at healing incurable damage.”
Editor’s takeaways
The shekel creates two Israels: early-stage startups bleeding runway, and established companies with shekel cash flows who can now buy global assets at a discount.
Enterprise AI is past the POC phase. The companies figuring out production deployment right now are building a serious structural advantage over those still evaluating.
Israeli biotech is dramatically underrepresented in the global conversation. Matricelf is a reminder of what’s being built outside the cyber corridor.
The second wave of generative AI, per Zeevi, requires new infrastructure and new cyber, not just new applications on the same stack.
- Sophia Tupolev
Head of Global, TV10
Israel’s Business and Finance Channel
global@tv10.co.il | X: @tv10global | Youtube | Spotify
