Protego Ventures Closes $125M Debut Fund for Israeli Defense Tech

Protego Ventures has completed a $125 million raise for its inaugural fund, making it Israel's largest dedicated defense-tech fund. The firm, founded by Lital Leshem and Lee Moser, secured $70 million at its initial closing and has now added $55 million to close the vehicle.

The fund targets early-growth companies that have already begun selling their products and whose technologies have been proven in battlefield or operational environments. Protego helps portfolio companies expand internationally by connecting them with business partners, investors and defense customers worldwide. Its portfolio spans autonomous systems, AI, critical infrastructure sensing and navigation in environments where communications and GPS may be disrupted.

Why did the founders build a defense-only fund?

Both partners bring operational and financial credentials. Leshem served 11 years in the IDF and the intelligence community, co-founded Carbyne, and later worked in US business development and investments across defense, aviation and cybersecurity. Moser is a venture capitalist and executive at AnD Ventures, served as chief of staff to Israel's ambassador to the US, Michael Oren, and helped expand BlackRock's operations in Israel.

"Protego was built on the conviction that many of the best defense companies in the world are being built right now, in Israel, under real operational demands, iterating according to real frontline conditions, for real customers," said Protego Co-founder & Managing Partner Lital Leshem. "That feedback loop produces technologies that are faster, leaner, scalable and more flexible than almost anything developed through traditional procurement channels. The free world is defending itself, and smart capital is following."

Moser framed the fund as an answer to a gap in the market. "What we kept hearing from founders was that generalist investors didn't understand their business, and defense-focused investors didn't understand the Israeli security ecosystem," she said. "There was real capital flowing into defense globally, but it wasn't reaching the companies that deserved it most, the ones that had already proven their technology under the toughest operational conditions, with genuine customers, in some of the most demanding arenas in the world. We built Protego to bridge that gap, and the close of Fund I combined with our portfolio companies tremendous achievements in just a short period of time demonstrates that this combination is exactly what the market needed."

What has the portfolio delivered so far?

The fund's first portfolio company was XTEND, which develops autonomous robotic systems used by the IDF, the US Department of Defense, US Special Operations Command and allied forces in countries including Singapore, Germany, Canada and the UK. Protego led XTEND's $70 million Series B round. XTEND recently went public on the New York Stock Exchange at a $1.5 billion valuation and trades under the ticker XTND.

Other holdings include:

• ASIO — develops systems that help maneuvering forces navigate, maintain situational awareness and coordinate in contested environments when GPS or communications are disrupted; its technology has been integrated into Anduril's systems.
• Prisma Photonics — turns existing fiber-optic cables into large-scale sensors monitoring power grids, pipelines and secured sites spanning thousands of kilometers, using AI to detect and classify threats in real time without additional hardware.
• Rilian — builds AI systems that execute cyber tasks using existing security tools, including in isolated or restricted computing environments, while capturing and preserving the operational knowledge accumulated by security teams.

What comes next?

Protego's strategy is to invest after companies have moved beyond the development stage and begun deploying technologies and winning customers. The firm says this approach lets it back companies that have already demonstrated demand while helping them expand internationally.

With Fund I closed, Protego plans to launch Fund II with an expanded focus on the US. The firm says it intends to target early-growth American defense companies while building its presence in the US defense ecosystem.