US venture capital firm 8VC, which was founded by Palantir founder Joe Lonsdale, has made its first defense-tech investment in Israel. 8VC was an early investor in Litevision, a new Israeli startup that develops electro-optical cameras for drones and was founded by former members of the IDF Intelligence Corps and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems. Industry sources describe Litevision’s products as having similar promise to Next Vision (TASE: NXSN), which supplies cameras for heavy drones, while Litevision caters to – to the small drones market.
According to data from the registrar of companies, the initial investment in Litevision is an estimated $8 million, with the investment from 8VC managed by partner Alex Moore, also formerly from Palantir. Israeli funds Kinetica, Q-Fund and 10D also participated in the round.
This is the first collaboration between Lonsdale and 8VC and Kinetica – a new Israeli defense-tech fund founded by Frederic Landau, Aaron Applbaum and Yoav Knoll. Kinetica is raising its first fund with a target of $150 million to focus on investments in Israeli defense companies. Applbaum and Knoll serve as senior executives at MizMaa Ventures, and last year they founded Kinetica together with Landau. The fund’s investors include 8VC and institutional investors from Abraham Accords countries.
Kinetica’s chairman is veteran investor Isaac Applbaum, cofounder of Opus Capital and MizMaa, who also founded the first branch of Lightspeed in Israel. Two former senior officials from the Israeli miltary joined the fund as partners: Maj. Gen. (res.) Saar Tzur, former IDF head of northern command, and Brig. Gen.(res.) Amit Konik, a former senior commander in the intelligence corps. The fund’s advisory board also includes senior officials from the US and Europe, including former US Secretary of the Navy and US Ambassador to Norway Kenneth Braithwaite, as well as former Italian Minister of Defense and chairman of the NATO Military Committee Admiral Giampaolo Di Paola.
One of the most outstanding defense-tech players in the west
8VC is one of the most outstanding defense-tech players in the West, and was among the early investors in Anduril, which reached a value of about $30 billion after winning huge contracts from the US Department of Defense at the expense of veteran defense contractors. 8VC has also invested in autonomous drone company Shield AI and the unmanned aerial vehicle company Saronic.
Lonsdale is one of the most prominent investors in the US, and is linked to the most senior figures in Silicon Valley, including Elon Musk and Peter Thiel, as part of the so-called “PayPal Mafia” – a nickname for a small group of founders and early employees at PayPal, who later became the most influential entrepreneurs and investors in Silicon Valley.
Lonsdale began working at PayPal as an intern during his studies, and was not among the founders. He then founded the Clarium Capital hedge fund, his own startup Addepar, as well as two venture capital funds: 8VC and Formation8. The investment in Litevision was made through 8VC via a subsidiary called Watchmen8, according to the Companies Registry. Lonsdale himself previously served as a private investor in several Israeli companies – including Commerce Sciences, which was sold to Taboola, Simply, Billguard and Any.do but according to the Finder database, this activity ceased more than a decade ago.
Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on February 17, 2026.
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