Next Gear Ventures

Managing Partners Tal Slobodkin and Eyal Kishon make all final investment decisions at Next Gear Ventures. Both were active angel investors in Israeli mobility startups before formalizing the firm in 2014. Slobodkin led the firm's investments in Arbe Robotics and UVeye (per CTech, 2021), and the two operate without an external investment committee. The flat decision-making structure is designed to move at the speed required for competitive seed rounds.

Next Gear sources deal flow primarily through the deep, decade-plus networks of its partners in Israel's automotive sensor, radar, and computer-vision engineering communities. The firm maintains relationships with engineering leaders at Mobileye, Innoviz, and other anchor companies whose alumni consistently spin out new ventures. Strategic co-investors — including Porsche Ventures, which co-invested with Next Gear in Valerann in 2025 (per Calcalist, 2025) — also route Israeli-ecosystem opportunities to the firm.

Next Gear invests exclusively in direct equity deals at the seed and early stage. The firm does not make fund-of-fund commitments or participate in secondary transactions. As a closed-end venture fund, all capital is deployed into primary equity rounds of portfolio companies. The fund's $65 million size (per CTech, 2021) is calibrated to write $2 million to $8 million checks as a lead or co-lead investor.

Next Gear focuses on seed and early-stage startups that have working prototypes and initial commercial traction or pilot-program engagement. The firm typically enters as a lead or co-lead investor in rounds sized between $2 million and $8 million. It does not invest in pre-product, idea-stage companies, nor does it participate in growth-stage rounds beyond pro-rata follow-ons from existing positions.

Next Gear's mandate excludes generalist enterprise SaaS, cybersecurity, digital health, fintech, and consumer — sectors that dominate most Israeli early-stage portfolios. The firm invests only in mobility and automotive-adjacent technology, including electrification, autonomous systems, connected-car software, and smart infrastructure. This narrow mandate means the firm will routinely pass on strong Israeli startups outside the mobility thesis.

Next Gear is structured as a single-entity venture capital firm managing a closed-end fund — Fund I closed at $65 million in 2021. It is not a multi-family office, an accelerator, or a corporate venture arm, though its limited partners include automotive strategics and family offices (per CTech, 2021). The firm operates from Tel Aviv with a compact team, and Slobodkin and Kishon remain the sole decision-makers on all investments.

The portfolio is intentionally concentrated. Next Gear targets approximately 15 positions per fund, reflecting a high-conviction approach that requires each investment to carry portfolio-return potential on its own. This concentration is enabled by the firm's narrow mobility mandate, which limits the universe of qualifying deals and forces a disciplined selection process.