1Mby1M Virtual Accelerator Investor Forum: With Yanai Oron of Vertex Ventures (Part 3)

Sramana Mitra: What are some of the highlights of your portfolio?

Yanai Oron: One of the interesting companies that we had the fortune to invest in was CyberArk (NASDAQ: CYBR). It’s a cyber security company trading with a valuation of around $1.7 billion. They help companies secure their information. Another interesting company is called SolarEdge which is a company that creates technology for solar panels.

A third company that we had the fortune to invest in is Waze. Even though we don’t do a lot of B2C, that was a very unique story that we thought could end very well. It did. If you look at our current portfolio, this year we had a very interesting exit with a company that did cyber security for automotive. It’s a company called Argus which we funded only three years ago and we sold for around $400 million to a European company. It’s an interesting story because three years ago, we were not sure amongst ourselves that there’s a real need for cyber security for automotive.

As autonomous was approaching, the need presented itself. It was shorter than we thought but we really liked the company. We are seeing a lot of other companies because the need is really big.

Sramana Mitra: Interesting. If you look at the 2017 year, what trends do you see in your deal flow?

Yanai Oron: We see so many deep technology-driven companies. We see young entrepreneurs who don’t necessarily have a lot of business experience but come from very technology-driven backgrounds. They’re able to look at what markets are interesting to look into. They can spend two to four months exploring the field and come up with some crazy ideas.

When we see them the first time, it’s pretty crazy. When we see them a month or two later, we’re already competing with two or three other venture funds. The cycles for crazy ideas have become very quick. After investing in some of those companies, we’re already seeing how quickly the wild ideas are becoming a reality not only because the technology allows them but also because of the willingness of the large corporates to work with them.

Companies today can create a technology that is difficult and can be a pilot within two months. Sometimes they still haven’t formed a company and they’re already starting a pilot with major corporations. That will probably be the one major trend we’re seeing.

Sramana Mitra: Would that be in any particular sector or any particular technology area or across the board?

Yanai Oron: If I look at the last three years, we’ve invested in three automotive and mobility-related companies. We’ve seen that progress. The large car companies with seven-year cycles have narrowed their cycles and are quick to work with companies. They are very eager to fund. That is the blueprint of what we’re now seeing in insurance technologies. Retail has become exactly that.

This segment is part 3 in the series : 1Mby1M Virtual Accelerator Investor Forum: With Yanai Oron of Vertex Ventures
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