Ex-Israeli Intel Vets Raise $20M to Track Developer Buying Signals

Finding effective ways to connect with developers about the tools they genuinely need remains a significant challenge for many software vendors. Developers typically avoid traditional marketing, yet they actively seek out and discuss solutions on platforms like Hacker News, Reddit, and Stack Overflow. These conversations reveal clear buying intent, which is the valuable signal that the startup Onfire aims to help companies capture.

Onfire has developed a platform that monitors public developer forums to understand which tools are being discussed. It then uses artificial intelligence to determine the companies those developers work for and identifies the relevant decision-makers. The system also incorporates data on budget cycles, enabling B2B sales teams to time and personalize their outreach effectively.

The company recently emerged from its stealth phase with $20 million in new funding. This includes a $14 million Series A round co-led by the Israeli venture capital firms Grove Ventures and TLV Partners. Additional participants were IN Venture, the venture arm of Japan’s Sumitomo Corporation, and LeumiTech77, a special fund commemorating Israel’s 77th anniversary.

Onfire’s leadership team, CEO Tal Peretz, CTO Shahar Shavit, and CPO Nitzan Hada, are all former members of the Israel Defense Forces’ elite Unit 8200. This intelligence unit is often compared to the U.S. National Security Agency and is recognized for its advanced work with AI and data tools, though it has also faced controversy over alleged mass surveillance. After transitioning to the private tech sector, the founders identified an opportunity to apply their intelligence expertise to the SaaS industry.

Since its beta launch twelve months ago, Onfire reports it has facilitated over $50 million in closed deals for its clients. Its early user base includes companies like ActiveFence, Aiven, Cyera, Port, and Spectro Cloud, which sell data, cybersecurity, FinOps, and observability solutions to technical buyers.

The founders’ intelligence backgrounds naturally invite scrutiny, especially given that Onfire’s method involves scanning public data to link online commenters to their employers. However, Lotan Levkowitz, a managing partner at Grove Ventures, portrays the outcome as mutually beneficial. He notes that customers are satisfied, and even their prospects appreciate receiving well-timed, relevant pitches.

The company believes its vertical, data-first approach provides a distinct competitive advantage. While many AI-powered tools claim to enhance enterprise sales, Peretz argues that effective personalized outreach must be built on a solid data foundation. He emphasizes that Onfire was established as a data company first, with the AI engine integrated afterward.

According to Levkowitz, Onfire addresses a specific gap that Grove Ventures had identified even before meeting the founders: software infrastructure companies were not effectively leveraging AI in their go-to-market strategies. He pointed out that the critical missing component was actionable data.

The emergence of Onfire coincides with a period where businesses are finding it difficult to rely solely on product-led growth for enterprise-level sales. Many in the industry now believe a new data layer is essential to support sales and marketing teams. Grove had already reached this conclusion when they connected with Onfire, and Levkowitz helped introduce the startup to companies aligned with this thesis.

Before developing their product, the Onfire team conducted extensive research, interviewing approximately 275 revenue leaders in the IT sector. They discovered that while most companies still generated the bulk of their revenue from direct sales efforts, the adoption of AI tools was beginning to transform the landscape.

The research indicated that buyers could achieve greater efficiency using AI-based contextual tools. However, traditionally hard-to-reach buyers like CISOs, CTOs, and engineering teams are now inundated with more outreach than ever, thanks to AI enabling mass communication. Providing relevant context is key to helping salespeople cut through this noise.

Peretz highlighted that Onfire’s solution is designed to map signals to a customer’s specific context. Selling a data solution to a large enterprise, for instance, requires a completely different strategy than selling a cybersecurity product. Levkowitz finds this aspect particularly compelling, as it means the data set continuously improves and becomes more refined with each new customer.

Onfire views this compounding data layer as its primary defense against established CRM giants like Salesforce and HubSpot. This specialized approach allows the company to offer a unique value proposition specifically tailored for the go-to-market teams of software infrastructure companies.

The startup plans to use its new capital to expand its team, with a focus on hiring in AI, research and development, and sales. Its core AI system is developed in Israel, where sixty percent of the team is located, while its go-to-market operations are based in New York, reflecting the company’s expectation that the United States will be a major market.

(Source: TechCrunch)