What has changed in the world of unicorns? What will happen and how will the economy react to these changes? Gil Brandes, Naschitz Brandes Amir Partner and Head of High Technology, Anat Shakedd, Nexite Co-Founder and CEO, Ofer Feldman, Stampl Co-Founder, Noam Schwartz, ActiveFence Co-Founder and CEO, and Nofar Glilot Capital Partner Amikam tried to answer this question from Calcalis held in the framework of the panel.
Anat Shakedd: “We started three and a half years ago and raised about $ 100 million. We enable sales to maximize and sell a product that is in the retailer’s eyes in their stores. For example, which product attracts more people and where the items are located. The change we are experiencing is reflected in our market, the fashion market, a $ 750 billion market that is looking to invest in technology and continues to grow, a market where ROI becomes a major issue in times of uncertainty. That’s why we’ve changed our market penetration strategy – a model with full deployment in all stores with a limited number of stores, used as a focus group for the entire chain.
It is said that the crisis has affected fintech.
Ofer Feldman: “We’ve been in business for eight years, raising $ 87 million. We sell AI software to organizations to manage their procurement processes. First, we’re a product-oriented company, and only then are we a Fintech company. that we invest more in the product itself, in a product that enables organizations to grow and become more efficient.
Do you feel that being a unicorn is scary?
Ofer Feldman: “We don’t want to be a unicorn and we’re not a unicorn. We focused on efficiency and sales.
What has changed in your field? How do you feel Are there any changes?
Noam Schwartz: “We are an interesting industry that helps online businesses upload content to the web. We help businesses understand what went online and protect problematic content, such as child-resistant content. Founded four years ago and we have about 300 employees and about a year ago about $ 100 million The change I see today, which began last year, is that everything is more goal- and goal-oriented, whether it’s investors or companies. really expand, and today there is much more pressure to make the journey clearer, with fewer bells and whistles.
You have invested in companies and also refused to invest in companies. How do you see the situation as a venture capital fund?
Nofar Amikam: “I am a partner of Glilot Capital, we manage $ 700 million in assets. We are all seeing changes and the value of public companies issued in recent years is declining. A year ago we saw companies raise seven or eight million dollars and today they average four to five million dollars. Change is also at an early stage in business, and I think it’s healthy, there are things that haven’t changed, Israel’s cyber week is happening and the desire to adopt innovative technologies is huge. companies have raised a lot of money in recent years. “
Through your eyes as a law firm, we can analyze investment transactions and mergers. What happened in 2022?
Gil Brandes: “In times of crisis and instability, many of the companies we represent come to us for a consultation. We provide services to early stage companies and will continue to do so. We represent many funds and deal with intellectual property support and later stages. Even within four weeks, even a company that has raised $ 150 million now realizes that this window may actually be closed. for three years, which means that it is much more difficult to collect a large amount on the private market. “
In 2021, we have been working a lot on the topic of talent. It is the year 2022 and we hear less about it. Are wages going up? Will the search for talent end?
Noam Schwartz: “Wages are not falling significantly, but not rising. We recently came across a company that closed its doors and made job offers to its employees, an employee sent us an email to get an offer for 10K. There are a lot of companies that are lowering wages. There are great companies in the country and they are currently recruiting so that the demand for skilled workers remains stable. Just last week, we recruited five people. “
Ofer Feldman: “At the end of last year, we decided to slow down our recruitment. However, we are still recruiting and the market trend has not changed significantly. The market was so flooded with jobs that even with Dear.”
Anat Shakedd: “We are recruiting at about the same pace, but in January, when we realized where things were going, we were reviewing our budgets again. Now it is very important to maintain transparency. “It’s up to us, but it’s like any other business, and we want to control our own destiny. It made employees feel redundant to fear redundancies.
Nofar Amikam: “I think there is still a shortage of workers and there are jobs that are important to fill. Growth and a high-quality workforce are also important for the balance.”
Gil Brandes: “The workforce is a huge problem. When there is talent in our world that we don’t need, we still recruit it because it’s considered talent. It takes a lot to start-up planning. that I think wages are going down. There needs to be a correction and it makes sense. “
