Ask an Israeli founder where they’re expanding and the answer is reflexive: America. Eran Westman, Managing Partner at Planven VC, thinks that reflex is costing them.
Speaking with Anna Ahronheim on the Jerusalem Post Business and Innovation Podcast, Westman, who ran Vidyo, built Ceragon’s Asia-Pacific business, and spent a decade in the US before turning investor, notes that mature Israeli companies eventually draw 30-40% of their revenue from Europe anyway.
The question isn’t whether they get there, but whether they arrive before a competitor locks up the market. European enterprises, once they’ve picked a vendor, rarely switch.
On geopolitics, he doesn’t hedge. Asked whether Europeans still want Israeli technology in the current climate, Westman says Israel is the cyber powerhouse “whether you like it or not,” and that’s understood even in capitals that are no friends of Jerusalem. Individual deals get blocked, but customers separate political opinion from procurement.
He backs it with Planven’s own exits: Seraphic Security, sold for close to half a billion while ranked third in its category, and Nozomi Networks, acquired by Schneider Electric for around $1 billion.
The tactical detail is what makes it worth watching. Westman dismantles the “I’m doing Europe” mindset with a story about founders who toured six Asian countries until nobody remembered who they were, explains why refusing a local partner their margin is the most expensive saving a founder can make.
Source:
www.jpost.com
