Israeli defense tech company Kela Technologies — founded in the wake of the October 7, 2023, onslaught — has acquired AI startup Pelanor, its first acquisition, as it builds a military operating system tailored for the modern battlefield.
Financial details of the deal were not disclosed, but the value is estimated at about $20 million to $30 million, according to reports in the Hebrew press.
Tel Aviv-based Pelanor was founded at the end of 2022 by Israeli army intelligence elite group Unit 8200 alumni Matan Mates (CEO), Ido Kotler (CPO) and Yotam Tanay (CTO). The startup has developed an AI-based platform that tracks, manages and reduces cloud computing expenses for firms by automatically detecting redundant costs.
Pelanor says the platform traces every dollar to its source and analyzes its business value, enabling teams to make strategic spending decisions.
“With this acquisition, we are adding 15 very talented engineers with amazing talent and one of the strongest teams out there today with cloud and AI expertise,” Kela co-founder Hamutal Meridor told The Times of Israel.
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Kela came out of stealth in March this year with a mission to equip Western militaries with a software platform designed to facilitate the adoption and integration of commercial technologies such as tablets, sensors and radars into existing military systems.
The defense tech startup was founded in July 2024 by Meridor, who also serves as president, alongside CEO Alon Dror, serial entrepreneur and engineer Omer Bar-Ilan and aeronautical engineer Jason Manne.
Illustrative: A Rafael laser interceptor system, in a handout photo issued by the defense firm on June 4, 2025. (Rafael Advanced Defense Systems)
Meridor is a veteran of the IDF’s intelligence Unit 8200, a former partner at the Israeli tech fund, Vintage Investment Partners, and previously served as the Israel head of US data analysis company Palantir.
Dror graduated from the army’s prestigious Talpiot training program, and then served in the defense establishment for over a decade — first as a tank commander and then at Mafat (Israel’s Directorate of Defense R&D), where he won the Israel Defense Prize.
Manne has 10 years of experience in weapons development for the Israeli Air Force, and Bar-Ilan is the former head of algorithm development at Rafael Advanced Defense Systems.
Earlier this year, the startup raised funds from two US venture capital firms Sequoia Capital and Lux Capital, alongside IQT, the US Central Intelligence Agency’s investment arm.
The founders’ vision is to convert Israel into a defense tech hub for Western militaries. Kela said it is gearing up to apply and compete for defense contracts in the US and by Western militaries in Europe, to expand the platform’s deployment.
The expansion plans come as some European governments are canceling arms deals with major Israeli defense contractors, including Elbit Systems and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, due to growing criticism over the country’s conduct during the ongoing war against the Hamas terror group in Gaza.
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