Everyone who knows me knows that B2C has been my passion for as long as I can remember. Over the last 5 years at Meta, I’ve had the privilege of working with hundreds of B2C companies—brilliant teams achieving incredible success with sophisticated strategies and impressive metrics. Israeli entrepreneurs have mastered the art of building world-class B2C companies. Yet, many investors in Israel are still overlooking the B2C sector. While global VCs recognize this opportunity and invest heavily in B2C—in the US, B2C accounts for ~50% of investments—while here in Israel, it’s only ~25%. In an article I published today on Calcalist כלכליסט, I explore why I believe this is happening and why it’s a missed opportunity that we can’t afford to ignore. Huge thanks to Noam Gabison and Maayan Sarig for their support in making this happen. See the link to the article in the first comment 👇🏼 #B2C
Thank you for the great post, Eli Gold. I hate to admit the amount of “nos” we received in our fundraising process in Israel, despite our metrics and traction being beyond most companies, in any space, and despite the scarce resources. Zoog is on target to crosss the $1M ARR in the next quarter, and reach profitability in the next 6 months (6% CVR from download to paid). Investors in the crowd who are serious about B2C, we’re open to calls.
I couldn’t agree more! As the CEO of a B2C startup (Pumba), I strongly resonate with the points made. Despite achieving a 40% retention rate over 8 months for monthly subscribers, we’ve found it challenging to gain traction with Israeli VCs. On the other hand, we’ve often managed to reach more advanced stages with American and European investors. This experience highlights the significant differences in how various VC ecosystems approach risk and opportunity.
1000% and great article Eli Gold! However I'm pretty sure the numbers in the US (and Israel) for early stage VC are a lot worse. If I recall correctly, only 7% (ish) of early stage VC funding in the US goes to B2C startups, but since B2C usually requires more funding than B2B in later rounds, the overall percentage goes up to 50%. 7% is simply insane!
Eli Gold thanks for spotlighting this angle! As someone who's switched from investing in B2B to running a stealth B2C startup, I'm totally feeling this. You nailed it with the investment gap between B2C and B2B here vs. the US. It's awesome to see Israeli B2C success stories - just goes to show we can think big and go global, even from our small market. Your take on the B2C potential here is super validating for folks like me ;) Curious - you think we'll see a big shift in how Israeli investors view B2C soon? Can't wait to see how this plays out! 🏆
Totally agree. No doubt Israeli founders can and will build the next consumer giants of our time
100% agree. I'm even willing to make a bold prediction and say the biggest IPO to come out of Israel in the next 5 years will be a b2c company
Very much agree. This has always been an issue for B2C startups in Israel and perhaps now is a good time to focus on this with the war and the economic situation. The B2C sector could be an additional engine of growth for the economy as well as a way to expand the tech sector here in Israel.
אלופה 👏🏼👏🏼
Eli Gold Amazing and super important! We're investing in B2C and DTC, but there aren't enough investors focusing on this space. Hopefully, this will change soon.
Venture Capital Partner at Meta
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