YL Ventures, the early-stage, cybersecurity-focused venture capital firm, yesterday (May 10th) announced the launch of its new $400 million fund - YLV V, bringing its total capital under management to $800 million.
YL Ventures is based in Tel Aviv, New York, and San Francisco. As Israeli startups have secured their place as top performers in the global cybersecurity market with growing enterprise needs and ample room for innovation, YL Ventures has doubled down on their commitment to the demonstrably successful sector. The firm’s track record includes Israeli cybersecurity unicorns Axonius and Orca Security, along with several successful, high-profile portfolio company acquisitions by major corporations including Twistlock (acquired by Palo Alto Networks), Medigate (acquired by Softbank-backed Claroty), Hexadite (acquired by Microsoft) and FireLayers (acquired by Proofpoint).
The firm's multidisciplinary team of 21 professionals support startups from as early as the founders’ ideation phase and continues through market research and validation, access to potential customers and business development, marketing, GTM, HR, finance, and operations. Their talented team coupled with their industry network and access to 115 Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) and senior executives from their Venture Advisory Board gives startups the tools to properly flourish.
This fund is a new milestone for Israeli venture capital; it is the largest seed-stage cybersecurity-focused fund ever raised, bridging Israeli innovation and the U.S. market. This fund will be used to both lead the seed rounds of approximately 10 startups at a pace of 3 startups per year, and to invest in the companies’ follow-on rounds, creating a strong support mechanism and providing entrepreneurs with a long and stable runway for growth regardless of the market environment. It will allow YL Ventures to continue its long-standing strategy of supporting Israeli founders from inception through every critical stage of building a category-leading company and bolstering its position in the global market. With their deep understanding of founders’ needs, a drive to find the next generation of cutting-edge solutions and the expertise to support these startups from the very beginning, this fund will have the impact that the startup nation requires.
YL Ventures’ 2017 fund, YLV III, invested over $130 million in seven portfolio companies. Within only five years of the fund’s launch, its impressive interim results place it among the top-performing VCs worldwide and include a net TVPI (multiple of invested capital) of over 5X, a net DPI of 3.4x, and a net IRR of 110% - well above the IRR of the top performing US-based VCs (84%) based on Preqin’s data in the relevant vintage year. Their fifth fund hopes to see the same success.
