Israeli defense-tech startup ASIO Technologies announced on Monday the successful completion of its first funding round, raising $15 million as it accelerates the global expansion of its tactical systems.
The investment was led by Protego Ventures, an Israel-based defense-focused venture capital fund investing in early-growth companies advancing breakthrough technologies across critical defense domains, along with Aliya Capital Partners as co-lead investor. Aliya Capital Partners is a leading alternative investment firm whose portfolio includes category-defining companies in AI, space, defense, and autonomy.
Founded by Tomer Malchi and Yaniv Malchi, ASIO’s portfolio includes tactical intelligence systems, command‑and‑control platforms, situational awareness tools, and jam‑resistant navigation technologies. Its systems are deployed across the IDF and are used by defense customers worldwide, including in the United States.
Its products are designed to ensure operational independence for ground and aerial forces operating in contested environments. Built on its proprietary GeoFusion technology, the company's solutions solve the coordination and communication challenges of joint multi-force operations, enabling ground dominance through interoperability, operational autonomy, enhanced situational awareness, and resilient edge navigation.
The company’s battle-hardened, operationally proven technology has been in the hands of IDF troops and commanders for nearly a decade, enabling the company to provide necessary upgrades and changes in the field.
"This investment marks an important milestone in ASIO's growth," said Tomer Malchi, Founder and CEO of ASIO. "Modern battlefields demand technologies that enable tactical units to operate independently, maintain mission continuity, and make faster, better-informed decisions, and to support interoperability with other systems in the field.
"This investment will allow us to accelerate innovation, expand globally, and continue delivering combat-proven operational capabilities that can be deployed at scale," added Malchi.
Company to expand under new funding
As the company continues to expand its work with governments, defense primes, OEMs, and strategic industry partners across North America, Europe, and Asia, the new funding will be used to scale production, accelerate product development, and extend its reach.
Lital Leshem, co-founder and managing partner at Protego Ventures, said that while most defense companies are working towards a single platform, ASIO is solving the “harder problem” of keeping troops "coordinated, oriented, and autonomous when GPS and comms fall away.”
In conflict zones like Iran, Lebanon, Gaza, or Ukraine, troops or platforms that rely solely on GPS for navigation are at risk of being stuck due to potential disruption.
“That's what GeoFusion delivers, and it's why their systems are trusted around the globe. Backing operators who reached this maturity while staying profitable and bootstrapped isn't a bet on a sector, it's a bet on a company the field can't fight without,” she added.
Ross Kestin, founder and CEO of Aliya Capital Partners, said that "ASIO is exactly the kind of category-defining defense technology company we look for – combat-proven, capital-efficient, and built by operators who understand the battlefield firsthand."
Billions of US dollars raised by Israeli defense-tech companies
While ASIO was founded and built as a profitable, bootstrapped company, the funding announcement comes shortly after it was announced that Israeli defense-tech start-ups working with the Defense Ministry raised nearly $3 billion in the first six months of 2026.
According to figures presented at the Haifa DefenseTech Startups and Investors Forum, the amount is three times the $1 b. raised during all of 2025.
During the same period, defense-tech and dual-use companies accounted for almost 30% of the $8.4 b. in private investment in Israel’s hi-tech sector. Approximately 800 start-ups are currently fulfilling direct procurement orders for the ministry.