Founding Team
Michael Matias, CEO
Michael served as an Officer (was first-in-class) at 8200 (received the Cyber Excellence Award for 2019) and founded two AI teams that received the National Defense Prize. Michael then studied AI at Stanford University and led AI teams at Hippo Insurance. He is an angel investor in more than 70 deep-tech startups, and was on the investment team for multiple VCs, including Eric Schmidt's Innovation Endeavors. He is the founder and host of a technology leadership podcast (20MinuteLeaders) with 1000+ episodes and authored 150+ articles in a leading Israeli financial newspaper.
Natalie Fridman, CTO
Natalie has over 10 years of management experience in AI and research, with expertise in collective intelligence, deep learning, and modeling autonomous agents. Natalie was previously the Senior VP of R&D (from inception to IPO) at ImageSat International and has a Ph.D. in AI and Collective Intelligence. She has published over 25 papers, was a leading computer science lecturer at Bar-Ilan University and has multiple patents in AI algorithms.
Gil Avriel, CSO and COO
Gil is a former Senior Executive in the Israel’s National Security Council, Office of the Prime Ministers. (14 years). Advised 8 National Security Advisers and 4 Prime Ministers on strategic national security issues while serving as the Legal Advisor to the NSC. Led complex multi-party negotiations on behalf of the Israeli government on complex national security issues. Served in the 8200 intelligence corps. Graduated from Harvard Kennedy School and Georgetown Law School (first-in-class).
About Clarity
Clarity is an AI cybersecurity startup with a mission of protecting against deepfakes and new social engineering and phishing attack vectors of Generative AI. Founded by AI and cyber experts from 8200, Stanford University, Georgetown University, Harvard University, and Israel’s National Security Council, Clarity is advised and backed by global leaders in the AI and cyber industries.
Clarity is an AI cybersecurity startup with a mission of protecting against deepfakes and new social engineering and phishing attack vectors of Generative AI. Founded by AI and cyber experts from 8200, Stanford University, Georgetown University, Harvard University, and Israel’s National Security Council, Clarity is advised and backed by global leaders in the AI and cyber industries.
About Walden Catalyst Ventures
Walden Catalyst is a venture capital firm helping early-stage companies in the U.S., Europe, and Israel build the next generation of category-defining businesses in deep tech. The firm is led by Young Sohn and Lip-Bu Tan, deep-tech industry pioneers who between them have invested in more than 600 startups across the globe, of which 136 have gone on to IPO. Walden Catalyst’s inaugural fund has announced a closing at over $550 million and is focused on early stage deep-tech investments and their team of innovators and entrepreneurs are passionate about disruptive technologies and committed to excellence. For startups, this translates into unparalleled access to operational expertise, global reach, and a network of industry captains eager to help build and scale the companies of the future. Visit our website here: https://waldencatalyst.com/
Walden Catalyst is a venture capital firm helping early-stage companies in the U.S., Europe, and Israel build the next generation of category-defining businesses in deep tech. The firm is led by Young Sohn and Lip-Bu Tan, deep-tech industry pioneers who between them have invested in more than 600 startups across the globe, of which 136 have gone on to IPO. Walden Catalyst’s inaugural fund has announced a closing at over $550 million and is focused on early stage deep-tech investments and their team of innovators and entrepreneurs are passionate about disruptive technologies and committed to excellence. For startups, this translates into unparalleled access to operational expertise, global reach, and a network of industry captains eager to help build and scale the companies of the future. Visit our website here: https://waldencatalyst.com/
About Bessemer Venture Partners
Bessemer Venture Partners helps entrepreneurs lay strong foundations to build and forge long-standing companies. With more than 145 IPOs and 300 portfolio companies in the enterprise, consumer and healthcare spaces, Bessemer supports founders and CEOs from their early days through every stage of growth. Bessemer’s global portfolio has included Pinterest, Shopify, Twilio, Yelp, LinkedIn, PagerDuty, DocuSign, Wix, Fiverr, and Toast and has $20 billion of assets under management. Bessemer has teams of investors and partners located in Tel Aviv, Silicon Valley, San Francisco, New York, London, Hong Kong, Boston, and Bangalore. Born from innovations in steel more than a century ago, Bessemer’s storied history has afforded its partners the opportunity to celebrate and scrutinize its best investment decisions (see Memos) and also learn from its mistakes (see Anti-Portfolio).
Bessemer Venture Partners helps entrepreneurs lay strong foundations to build and forge long-standing companies. With more than 145 IPOs and 300 portfolio companies in the enterprise, consumer and healthcare spaces, Bessemer supports founders and CEOs from their early days through every stage of growth. Bessemer’s global portfolio has included Pinterest, Shopify, Twilio, Yelp, LinkedIn, PagerDuty, DocuSign, Wix, Fiverr, and Toast and has $20 billion of assets under management. Bessemer has teams of investors and partners located in Tel Aviv, Silicon Valley, San Francisco, New York, London, Hong Kong, Boston, and Bangalore. Born from innovations in steel more than a century ago, Bessemer’s storied history has afforded its partners the opportunity to celebrate and scrutinize its best investment decisions (see Memos) and also learn from its mistakes (see Anti-Portfolio).