Yishmor Ventures

Venture capital for soldier survivability

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Pre-seed and seed / Defense tech / Israel

Capital for the technology that brings soldiers home.

A pre-seed and seed fund in formation, for Israeli defense tech that prevents friendly fire and keeps wounded soldiers alive.

Contact Read the thesis
Fig. 01Terrain, and one position that is known.

01 / The problem

Too many soldiers are lost to friendly fire.

30

IDF soldiers killed by friendly fire in Gaza, October 2023 to January 2025.1

1,166
operational accidents among IDF forces in Gaza.1
63
soldiers killed in those accidents. 1,240 wounded.1
15.5%
of all IDF fallen in Gaza died in operational accidents.1

Main cause: loss of orientation, a flawed picture of firing directions and sector boundaries (IDF Chief Safety Officer investigations).1

Source: IDF data, via Kan News, January 13, 2025

02 / Why now

Defense capital is surging. The earliest stage is underserved.

$19.8B

Defense tech venture capital in Q1 2026. A record quarter.2

Source: PitchBook, June 1, 2026. Earlier stages shown as the remainder.

Israel, 2026

334+
Defense tech startups and firms in Israel, per Startup Nation Central.3
NIS 100M
State guarantee for each of two defense funds, Adir and SLING, picked by the Finance Ministry and MAFAT.3
NIS 200K
MAFAT grant per INNOFENSE accelerator slot, or per IDF pilot through Innotal. No equity taken, IP stays with the company.45

03 / Thesis

One thesis: soldier survivability.

Friendly fire starts with a broken picture of who is where. We back the technology that fixes that picture, and the technology that keeps the wounded alive.

04 / What we invest in

Earliest check. Narrowest focus.

Stage
Pre-seed and seed
Focus
Combat ID, situational awareness, drone deconfliction, combat medicine
Geography
Israeli companies and Israeli R&D teams
Follow-on
Israeli defense funds and US defense investors

How we work

  1. 01

    Reserve network

    Problems surface in the field, before they reach a pitch deck.

  2. 02

    Validate

    Every need tested with end users before we invest.

  3. 03

    Invest

    Pre-seed and seed checks, in the four areas above.

  4. 04

    Accelerate

    Help companies apply to INNOFENSE, Innotal and Meimad.456

These programs are run by MAFAT. We help with applications. No grant or pilot is promised.

05 / About

Those who stand guard should come home.

Our vision is plain. The soldiers who protect good people and stand against evil should be able to do their job and come home.

Too many are lost to friendly fire, and to wounds that could have been treated in time. We back early-stage teams building the technology that closes those gaps: knowing who is where, telling friend from foe, and keeping the wounded alive until evacuation.

The name

Yishmor (ישמור) means “will guard” in Hebrew. It comes from Psalm 121: “The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in.”

The mark is a doorway on an amber threshold, the place where going out and coming in happen.

Psalm 121:8, King James Version. kingjamesbibleonline.org

Founder

Founded by Yair Saadon.

400+ reserve days in a paratrooper reconnaissance battalion: direct access to the commanders, medics and operators who live the problem.

Guarding those who go out, and bringing them home.

06 / Contact

Founders building in these four areas, and anyone who would like to learn more, can write to us.

[email protected]

Sources

  1. Kan News, IDF data on operational accidents and friendly fire among IDF forces, January 13, 2025. kan.org.il
  2. PitchBook News, the most active defense tech VCs, June 1, 2026. pitchbook.com
  3. The Times of Israel, Israel picks state-backed funds to drive investment in next-generation defense tech, September 23, 2026 (includes Startup Nation Central data). timesofisrael.com
  4. Directorate of Defense R&D (MAFAT), INNOFENSE. ddrd-mafat.mod.gov.il
  5. Directorate of Defense R&D (MAFAT), Innotal. ddrd-mafat.mod.gov.il
  6. Directorate of Defense R&D (MAFAT), Meimad. ddrd-mafat.mod.gov.il