Fusion LA

Co-founders and Managing Partners Guy Katsovich and Yair Vardi lead all investment decisions. Katsovich previously served as Managing Director of 8200 EISP, the accelerator program affiliated with Israel's elite Unit 8200 intelligence corps. Vardi was a representative for Israeli government technology initiatives in Los Angeles. Venture Partner Simon Legziel, representing the Legziel Family Office, also advises on portfolio strategy.

The firm's deal flow is anchored in the Unit 8200 alumni ecosystem and the broader Israeli technology community. Both founders maintain deep ties to 8200, and Katsovich's prior role running its accelerator program provides direct access to early-stage technical founders. The Tel Aviv office serves as the primary origination node, with the Santa Monica office handling US commercialization and follow-on relationships.

Fusion LA is an asset manager structured as a venture firm, not a family office. The Legziel Family Office was an early limited partner and Simon Legziel acts as a Venture Partner, creating a close relationship, but the firm is an independent generalist asset manager raising capital from multiple institutional and family-office backers.

Fusion LA makes direct investments in pre-seed and seed-stage companies. The firm raised its own $20 million pre-seed fund to deploy directly, rather than operating as a fund-of-funds. Its model occasionally involves co-investing with growth-stage firms like Insight Partners in shared portfolio companies.

Fusion LA focuses on pre-seed and seed-stage investments. It targets companies at their earliest institutional rounds, often before a formal US go-to-market presence is established. The firm provides capital, accelerator support, and a bridge into the US market through its Santa Monica base.

Portfolio companies typically originate in Israel but are positioned for the US market, with Fusion LA facilitating the transition. Its dual-office structure in Tel Aviv and Santa Monica reflects a deliberate strategy to source Israeli deep-tech and deploy it commercially in the United States through a Los Angeles landing pad.

Insight Partners is a limited partner in Fusion LA's $20 million pre-seed fund and acts as a co-investor in select portfolio companies, including Agora. The relationship provides Fusion LA's early-stage companies with a potential path to growth-stage capital from a major software-focused investment firm.