Protego Ventures closes $125M Fund I for early-growth Israeli defence companies

Protego Ventures, which describes itself as Israel's first and largest dedicated defence fund, has announced the final close of its Fund I at $125 million.

The Tel Aviv firm, co-founded by Lital Leshem, backs early-growth Israeli defence companies with battlefield-proven technology and helps them scale globally, through a partner network that includes the US Department of Defense, NATO allies, Elbit, IAI, Lockheed Martin and Army Futures Command.

The portfolio spans autonomous systems, agentic AI, critical-infrastructure sensing and navigation in contested environments. Its first investment, XTEND, which makes the XOS operating system for tactical drones and robots, raised a $70 million Series B led by Protego and has since listed on the New York Stock Exchange at a $1.5 billion valuation.

The fund puts defence tech VC dealmaking at $19.8 billion in Q1 2026 alone.

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