For decades, Israeli founders have looked to the United States when it came time to scale. Increasingly, they’re choosing Miami as their first stop.
That trend gained another signal this week with the public debut of Stratos Ventures, a defense technology and resilience-focused venture capital fund that operates between Tel Aviv and Miami. The firm announced it has already raised more than $50 million toward an $80 million target, making five investments while building a platform that helps Israeli startups reach U.S. defense customers through South Florida.
Growing geopolitical tensions and recent military developments have fueled investor interest in defense technology, to the tune of $12B. But for many founders, raising capital is only part of the challenge. Winning government contracts often depends on local relationships, market access, and navigating a complex procurement system.
That’s where Miami comes in.
Founded by Rotem Yehuda Kakon, Aviad Grinfeld, and Daniel Fouzailov, Stratos invests in pre-Seed and Seed-stage startups developing technologies for defense, homeland security, cybersecurity, and critical infrastructure. The fund plans to back between 15 and 20 companies, typically writing initial checks of $2 million to $4 million.
Rather than simply providing capital, Stratos has built a platform designed to help portfolio companies enter the American market. Through a partnership with The LAB Miami in Wynwood, the firm connects founders with organizations including the Department of War (DOW), U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), the Port of Miami, and other government and industrial organizations that could eventually become customers.
“Defense tech isn’t the flavor of the month for us; we’ve been doing it for years,” Fouzailov told the Jerusalem Post. “We came with a different approach. We don’t want to be another VC.”
The strategy appears to be gaining traction. According to the firm, it reached its initial fundraising target within six months, anchored by a major institutional investor from the United Kingdom. Additional backing came from family offices across the United States, Europe, India, South America, Australia, and Israel.
The portfolio already includes startups such as Particle, Tenna, and Skapion. Four of the fund’s first five investments have already raised follow-on rounds led by major U.S. venture capital firms at significantly higher valuations.
For Miami, though, perhaps the bigger story is what this says about the city’s place in the global defense technology ecosystem. Earlier this year, Stratos and The LAB Miami organized several defense technology events during Israel Tech Week Miami in April alongside organizations including Jefferies, Blackstone, the Directorate of Defense Research & Development (MAFAT), official MAFAT representatives based at U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM), and CENTCOM. More than 1,500 attendees participated, including defense officials, contractors, investors, and startup founders.
This is in addition to the wide range of defense-related programming seen at this year’s eMerge Americas conference. Those gatherings reinforced Fouzailov’s belief that Florida is becoming an important market.
“This partnership represents something much bigger than two organizations working together. It reflects Miami’s growing role as a natural entry point for Israeli innovation into the United States,” commented Ayal Stern, co-founder of The LAB and of Israel Tech Week and Miami_Israel Collective.
“For years, Israeli deep tech and defense technology companies looked to New York, D.C., or Silicon Valley first. Today, more Israeli founders and venture firms are choosing Miami because of its business friendly environment, access to capital, and the strength of the ecosystem that’s being built here,” Stern continued, in comments to Refresh Miami.
He added: “We’re excited to partner with Stratos Ventures to help their portfolio companies establish and grow their U.S. presence. The fact that Stratos has chosen to base its U.S. operations at The LAB Miami is another sign that Miami is becoming a real hub for deep tech, resilience, and defense innovation.”
“Florida has become an emerging defense market,” Fouzailov sais in the Jerusalem Post. “There’s a lot of tech programs, Palantir’s headquarters is in Florida, and the DOW has a big footprint there.”
He also argued that Israeli startups increasingly need an American presence to compete. “The Israeli market isn’t big enough. The US is the real market,” Fouzailov said, adding that companies need to register in the United States because “when you have a US company, you can get into a real program with DOW very early.”
Pictured at the top of this post areStratos Ventures co-founders and General Partners Rotem Yehuda Kakon and Daniel Fouzailov. Photo by Emma Sayag.
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