UpWest Office Hours: Your US Go-To-Market Can’t Wait For a Vaccine
Strategizing your startup’s US market penetration from Israel can feel like an undertaking — and now COVID-19 has thrown a wrench in whatever plans you had underway. How do you reach customers, advisors, and investors? What’s the right pace of engagement with a new market, and how early can you start? How much can be done virtually? How does the US differ from Israel?
We’ve spent the past eight years helping our portfolio of 80+ Israeli-founded startups — across myriad industries — tackle these hurdles and raise over $1 billion in follow-on funding. We’ve seen what worked before, but what works now as coronavirus continues to send shock waves through the market?
Earlier this year, when it became clear that the pandemic would be far from short-lived, we teamed up with Google for Startups to create a series of webinars addressing Israeli founders’ burning questions regarding the US. Now that flights are limited, and both Silicon Valley and the Startup Nation have gone through varying periods of lockdown / shelter-in-place, the distance feels wider than ever.
The feedback from these online sessions was clear: there’s a plethora of resources out there on how startups should navigate these times, but not enough guidance on the unique situation of building a company for the US market while sitting in Israel.
We’re excited to announce our new office hours program, focused on answering these burning questions for early stage founders.
We will help you with your US go-to-market strategy, business model, or any other areas where you may feel stuck or maybe just need a third party’s opinion on the US market. As the venture fund with the largest portfolio of Israeli startups in the US, our hope is to leverage our expertise to help pre-seed and seed stage CEOs continue to optimize for the strengths of both markets and turn these times of uncertainty and adversity into opportunity.
Sign up here to schedule time with a member of our investment team.
If you have any questions, feel free to email me directly at lia@upwest.vc. You can also learn more about our investment approach here.
*Please note: this is intended for pre-seed and seed stage founders targeting the US market.
About UpWest:
UpWest is a Silicon Valley-based Pre-Seed and Seed fund investing in Israeli founders innovating at the US-Israel tech junction. With over 80 portfolio companies that have raised more than $1 billion in follow-on funding, UpWest is the VC fund with the largest portfolio of Israeli startups headquartered in the US. Select investments include SentinelOne, HoneyBook, Stampli, Codefresh, and CyCognito.
