Bill Ekman and Eric Schmidt are investing in a startup of Defense Department graduates

Kela, the young defense-tech start-up, which has become one of the most talked about companies in the Israeli defense industry, is currently completing a fundraising of around 200 million dollars at a value of 1.2 billion dollars before the money, Globes has learned. The round is led by huge funds such as Stripes and the D1 fund, and in addition to existing investors, such as Sequoia and Lux ​​Capital, the giant round also includes billionaire Bill Ackman, one of the shareholders of the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, and former Google chairman Eric Schmidt. Before the current round, the company raised $100 million since its inception two years ago.

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The recruitment comes against the backdrop of an acceleration in the company’s business activity. Only recently, Alon Dror, the company’s CEO, revealed in a podcast he was a guest on that Kela recorded revenues of approximately $20 million in the past year. According to sources, the company presented contracts in the amount of at least $50 million in 2025. In other words, this is a relatively fast penetration rate in the defense market, where sales cycles often last for years and require complex testing, regulation and approval processes. Thus, the combination Between revenue growth, an accumulation of future contracts and significant capital from the private market, allows Kele to act aggressively, both in organizational expansion and in field activity.

Senior founding team for rapid expansion

Behind the scenes is a high-profile founding team. The company was founded in July 2024 by Alon Dror, a former senior official at the Israel Defense Forces and winner of the Israel Security Award, who was recently selected for the Globes 40 under 40 list, together with Hamotel Meridor, former president of Planetir Israel and a partner in the Vintage Fund. They were joined by the VP of Development Amar Bar Ilan (brother of the founder of the Sayara unicorn, Tamar Bar-Ilan), and the VP of Product Jason Meaney.

Kela was established as a company that develops control and control systems (SOC) for border areas, inspired by the successful American start-up Anudril, which was established in the same way. According to Anudril’s Torah – technologies can be added and removed to the SCO systems upon demand and request – such as sensors, radar systems, drones and various means of warfare, and can be combined according to the customer’s request.

Globes learned that within a short period of time Kela grew from dozens of employees to approximately 150 employees. And the main activity is concentrated in the Israeli security system, and the manpower includes graduates of technological units, graduates of international technology giants and field personnel. The high amount she raised in a short time – about 300 million dollars in total – allows her to offer exorbitant salary offers even to those who work in the most prestigious companies, when to capture a story that apparently no other technology giant has: developing products for the defense of the homeland. As of today, Kela works only in the Israeli security system, but it is also working to expand to operations in the US.

One of the significant developments in Kela’s activity is the relatively quick transition from the development phase to deployment in the field. Thus, the company established a factory in the south that specializes, among other things, in the production of ammunition. At the same time, according to sources, Kela expanded within a year from deploying a single number of outposts on the border – to a high double-digit number. After betting on the eastern border tenders, and succeeding in securing several outposts on the Jordanian border, Merahiva has significantly expanded its activity on the northern border these days, with dozens of additional outposts. This layout not only pushes the feet of defense giants like Elbit – the dominant player in the Israeli SHB market – but also allows the sniper to work with as many units as possible, get to know their terrain needs, and adapt its products to their requirements.

Bill Ekman / Photo: Inbal Marmari

An open model against a conservative industry

As mentioned, at the heart of Kela’s activity is a command and control system based on a relatively open architecture – one referred to by the CEO as similar to the Android system – a platform on which different suppliers can develop different systems and connect easily. The system is designed to enable connection between different components on the battlefield: sensors, drones, and UAVs, and to produce a uniform real-time situational picture. Unlike the closed systems that characterize some of the solutions of the old defense companies, such as Elbit’s “Hunting”, the Sling platform allows the integration of systems from different sources, including civilian technologies, within a single shell. Recently, the company has been working to integrate armed drones and mini-UAVs produced by it and produced by foreign companies into its system.

The open model allows it to more quickly assemble more systems on demand, even without the customer – in this case the IDF or the Ministry of Defense – paying in advance. Since Sele, like other defense companies, pre-manufactures products that can fit several frames, the adaptation to the specific customer is done at a lower cost than a system ordered in advance from one of the defense equipment giants. However, market sources point out that the combination of open architecture in defense systems Also raises questions concerning cyber aspects – and the company is trying to solve this by recruiting experts from the field from the military and industry.

At the same time as the technological approach, Kela also operates through a relatively competitive pricing strategy, which allows it to compete for projects against established players. According to sources, in some cases the company offers solutions at very competitive prices compared to its competitors in the military industries, among other things to penetrate initial projects and expand the scope of activity, and this is based on the mobilization of its hundreds of millions. Along with this, sources in the industry point out that such a model requires further adaptation to a long-term cost structure, especially when it comes to defense projects that include maintenance, upgrades and ongoing support over the years.

Despite the progress in the activity, Kela is still at a relatively early stage in terms of its positioning in the market, at the same time that defense procurement processes often include lengthy testing, testing and approval stages, which may slow down the rate of penetration of new players.

The gap between the extremely high value – over a billion dollars – and the company’s real revenues, a few tens of millions of dollars – reflects the very high pricing of the American investors for a company that has so far only been active in Israel, but is growing at a high rate. Part of this value is derived from estimates regarding the potential of future contracts and possible volumes of activity with existing customers, and not only from the current volume of activity. However, the current recruitment indicates a high level of confidence on the part of investors in Kela’s ability to expand its activities and become a significant player in the American defense market, even though it is saturated with local players. The company has yet to respond.