Yanki Margalit
About Yanki Margalit
Yanki Margalit is an Israeli entrepreneur, investor and speaker based in Tel Aviv. He founded Aladdin Knowledge Systems in 1985 at age 23. The company made software security and digital rights management products, including the HASP software protection line. Its early product work included an artificial intelligence package, which was dropped early on. Aladdin listed on NASDAQ in 1993, and he led it as chairman and CEO until 2009, when SafeNet acquired it. A 2016 conference biography describes it as a company with over 600 employees and close to $150M in sales at the time of sale.
After the sale he moved into investing and board work. He is an executive partner at Innodo Ventures, which was founded in 2012 as the Margalit family's venture vehicle. He has also been a partner and investor at the angel network iAngels since 2013. He chaired SpaceIL, the Israeli non-profit that competed in the Google Lunar X Prize, from 2011 to 2016. His biographies also list support for non-profits and social enterprises such as Idealist.org, Latet, College4All, MEET and MIT Forum Israel.
In 2025 he co-founded Caura.ai (Caura Innovation Ltd) and serves as its CEO. Tracxn lists Erni Avram as co-founder and CTO. Caura describes its work as building a memory and emotion layer for AI. Crunchbase counts two companies founded by him.
Crunchbase lists 6 investments, 5 portfolio companies, no lead investments and 1 exit, none by IPO. The public record shows a run of Israeli seed-stage deals from roughly 2011 to 2016.
NFX Signal's profile lists these rounds. Drippler had an angel round in June 2011 (round size $250K) and a Series A in June 2015. Scoreoid had a seed round in February 2013 (round size $100K). Waveit had a seed round in February 2014 (round size $130K). iAngels had a seed round in March 2015 (round size $2M). Digital Layers had a seed round in October 2015 (round size $2M). These figures are round sizes, not his own checks.
MarketScreener's position history adds other roles. He was an investor at BioCatch from 2011 to 2022 and an investor at Zeekit from 2014 to 2022. Crunchbase notes Zeekit is now part of Walmart. He was also an investor in Moleculon in 2011, and he is chairman of Screemo and Pixter-Media.
No public record of him angel investing in AI startups turned up. His main AI activity is as a founder. Caura.ai, launched in 2025, targets AI memory, identity and emotional intelligence. Tracxn lists it as unfunded. In a company press release, Margalit introduced PeerRank, a research framework in which AI models evaluate each other. It covered 12 commercial models and over 253,000 pairwise judgments.
His first company, Aladdin, started with an AI software package in the 1980s, though the business grew in security and licensing. Founders pitching AI products should treat him as an operator with experience in security, mobile and consumer software and now in AI memory. He has not published an AI investment thesis.
Stage: his known investments are seed and early-stage, and Innodo and his 2016 conference biography describe a seed fund for early-stage technology startups. Geography: Israel. NFX Signal tags his investments under Security, Space, ClimateTech/CleanTech and BioTech, and Tracxn lists Innodo's sectors as enterprise applications, mobile, retail and consumer.
Check size: Margalit has not stated one publicly. NFX Signal, a third-party database, shows an investment range of $5K to $50K and a sweet spot of $25K. Founders should treat this as unconfirmed.
He has no public statement of investment criteria that we could verify. His biographies and talks emphasise mentoring early-stage founders, and Crunchbase says he has invested in and mentored startups through Innodo.
- Drippler: mobile app that recommends tips and apps for smartphone users; angel round June 2011, Series A June 2015, and he was an investor and director from 2011 to 2017. Tracxn lists it as an acquisition by Innodo's portfolio.
- Zeekit: virtual try-on shopping technology, now part of Walmart; investor from 2014 to 2022.
- BioCatch: behavioural biometrics for fraud detection; investor from 2011 to 2022.
- iAngels: Israeli angel investing network; he joined as partner in 2013 and appears in its March 2015 seed round.
- Digital Layers: seed round October 2015 per NFX Signal.
- Waveit: seed round February 2014 per NFX Signal.
- Scoreoid: seed round February 2013 per NFX Signal.
- Screemo: Tel Aviv interactive digital screen advertising platform; he is chairman.
- Caura.ai: AI memory and emotion startup he co-founded in 2025 and leads as CEO.
- crunchbase.com/person/yanki-margalit
- signal.nfx.com/investors/yanki-margalit
- marketscreener.com/insider/YANKI-MARGALIT-A0175O
- in.marketscreener.com/insider/YANKI-MARGALIT-A0175O
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yanki_Margalit
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aladdin_Knowledge_Systems
- cyberweek.tau.ac.il/2016/speakers/108-yanki-margalit
- startupgrind.com/events/details/startup-grind-tel-aviv-presents-yanki-
Investing activity
Yanki Margalit has made 6 investments according to Crunchbase across 5 portfolio companies, and has seen 1 exit and founded 2 companies.
Deals
Frequently asked questions about Yanki Margalit
Does Yanki Margalit invest in AI startups?
No public AI angel investments were found. He is the co-founder and CEO of Caura.ai, an AI memory and emotion startup launched in 2025. His disclosed investments are mostly Israeli seed-stage companies in other sectors.
What is Yanki Margalit's check size?
He has not published a check size. NFX Signal lists a range of $5K to $50K with a $25K sweet spot, but that is a third-party estimate.
What stage does Yanki Margalit invest in?
His known deals are seed and early-stage, mostly in Israel. Innodo Ventures, where he is executive partner, is described as a seed fund.
Who is Yanki Margalit?
He is an Israeli entrepreneur who founded Aladdin Knowledge Systems in 1985, took it public on NASDAQ in 1993 and led it until its 2009 sale to SafeNet. He is now CEO of Caura.ai and an executive partner at Innodo Ventures.
How can founders contact Yanki Margalit?
His public LinkedIn profile is the clearest channel, and NFX Signal offers warm introductions through its network. He has no personal website or X account that we could confirm.
What has Yanki Margalit invested in?
Public records list Drippler, Scoreoid, Waveit, iAngels and Digital Layers, plus past investor roles at BioCatch and Zeekit. He is chairman of Screemo and Pixter-Media.
Is Yanki Margalit an angel investor?
Yes. Yanki Margalit invests personally as an angel. Crunchbase counts 6 investments and 1 exit.
Where is Yanki Margalit based?
Yanki Margalit is based in Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv, Israel.
How can founders reach Yanki Margalit?
Founders on Lounge can see Yanki Margalit's contact details in AI Investor Contacts (paid plans), check for a warm introduction through members who worked with them under Warm Paths, and add Yanki Margalit to their Investor Pipeline to track the conversation.