When Mentee Robotics announced a significant funding round last year, it drew attention not just for the dollar amount, but for the milestone it represented: a Tel Aviv-based company building humanoid robots had moved from a research-stage concept to a company that had reached significant institutional scale. For 10D, who led their series A, the recent acquisition of Mentee Robotics confirmed a thesis the firm had been building for years: that the next wave of transformational technology would come from companies sitting at the intersection of deep engineering and artificial intelligence. 10D was founded in 2019 and operates as an early-stage fund focused exclusively on Israeli entrepreneurs, investing from pre-seed through Series A. Its portfolio spans robotics, quantum computing, cybersecurity, health technology, defense, and generative AI infrastructure, though the firm describes itself as a generalist investor with dynamic, evolving themes. Before 10D became one of Israel’s most closely watched early-stage funds, it was built by investors who had already helped shape some of the country’s biggest tech success stories. At the center of it is Yahal Zilka, a venture capitalist with more than two decades of experience in the Israeli tech ecosystem and a track record that includes multi-billion-dollar exits. Over the years, Zilka has been involved as an investor, advisor, and board member in companies such as Onavo (acquired by Facebook), CloudEndure (acquired by Amazon), AppsFlyer, Argus (acquired by Continental), Innoviz (which went public), and Aidoc, whose AI platform is used by hospitals across the U.S., Europe, and Asia. He is also widely associated with one of the defining success stories of Israeli tech: Waze. At a critical early stage, Zilka made a move that stood out even by today’s standards. Instead of supporting a $6 million seed round, he pushed to double it to $12 million—an unusually large