BGV Bets on Dual-Use Tech with New Center of Excellence

MENLO PARK, Calif. – April 28, 2026 – Venture capital firm Benhamou Global Ventures (BGV) today announced a significant strategic formalization with the launch of a Dual Use Center of Excellence, a move designed to scale its investments in technologies serving both commercial and defense markets. The initiative is underscored by a key investment in Israeli autonomous drone company Percepto and an expansion of the firm’s leadership team, signaling a deep commitment to what it sees as a new class of globally strategic companies.

The Menlo Park-based firm, known for its cross-border investment model and focus on "Enterprise 5.0," is positioning itself at the forefront of a major industry trend: the convergence of advanced artificial intelligence, industrial automation, and pressing national security priorities.

“This next phase reflects how we see the global technology landscape evolving,” said Eric Benhamou, Founder and Managing Partner of BGV, in a statement. “The convergence of AI, industrial systems, and national priorities is creating a new class of companies that operate at the core of both economic and strategic infrastructure. BGV is uniquely positioned to identify and scale these companies globally.”

The New Strategic Imperative: Dual-Use Technology

BGV’s move is not happening in a vacuum. It taps into a seismic shift in the venture capital landscape, where "dual-use" has become a critical investment thesis. Driven by geopolitical fragmentation and the realization that agile startups can out-innovate traditional defense behemoths, capital is flowing into companies whose products can secure a nation's infrastructure as effectively as they can optimize a commercial supply chain.

Recent market data reveals an explosion in this sector. Between late 2024 and mid-2025, investment in dual-use technology companies surged by 25% to nearly $1.2 trillion, with these companies accounting for over half of all new tech scaleups created during that period. Venture firms, including giants like Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital, are increasingly targeting companies in AI, robotics, and cybersecurity that have clear applications for both government and enterprise clients.

This trend is fueled by a mutualistic relationship. Startups gain access to demanding, high-stakes government and defense environments that provide early, rigorous product validation. In turn, these battle-tested technologies enter the commercial market with higher reliability, built-in security, and a stronger product-market fit, expanding their total addressable market and creating durable competitive advantages. BGV's strategy aims to institutionalize this process, creating a dedicated platform to nurture these unique companies.

A Case Study in Resilience: Percepto's Autonomous Drones

As an initial demonstration of its formalized strategy, BGV has invested in Percepto, an Israeli firm whose technology epitomizes the dual-use ideal. Percepto develops autonomous "drone-in-a-box" systems that provide continuous monitoring, inspection, and security for critical infrastructure sites like power plants, refineries, and mines.

These are not hobbyist drones. Percepto's systems are hardened for industrial and strategic environments, capable of operating 24/7 in extreme weather, including winds up to 155 mph. The drones autonomously launch from and return to their networked landing boxes, executing pre-programmed missions or responding to emergencies in real-time. Onboard AI and computer vision systems analyze visual and thermal data to detect anomalies, security threats, and operational inefficiencies, generating actionable insights without constant human oversight.

The technology's impact is already being felt in the United States. In a landmark project, Florida Power & Light (FPL) is deploying hundreds of Percepto drones to monitor its power grid and substations. This operation, considered the world's largest commercial autonomous drone project, was made possible by a nationwide Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) waiver granted by the FAA—a regulatory game-changer that removes significant logistical and cost barriers for deploying autonomous systems across critical infrastructure. The same technology used to ensure grid resilience for millions of Floridians can be deployed to secure sensitive defense installations or monitor strategic assets.

BGV's Cross-Border Playbook: Israel to Silicon Valley

Central to BGV's strategy is its unique cross-border model, which connects the innovation hotbed of Israel with the scaling power of Silicon Valley. The firm argues that Israel, with its deep-rooted defense industry and thriving deep-tech startup ecosystem, is a premier source for dual-use companies.

“We’re at an inflection point where the best companies are built once and deployed across both enterprise and national systems,” noted Barak Ben-Avinoam, a Partner at BGV for over a decade. “Dual Use companies benefit from early validation in high-stakes environments and scale across both markets. Israel is uniquely positioned to produce these companies, and BGV is building the platform to back them from the earliest stages.”

To execute this vision, the firm has bolstered its team. Alongside Ben-Avinoam, BGV has added Ziv Elul and Robert Pincas as Partners, Eitan Efron as a Venture Partner, and Shiri Freund Koren as an Operating Partner. Freund Koren's background is particularly illustrative of the new focus; her experience spans AI, energy resilience, critical infrastructure, and facilitating Israel-US technology partnerships, directly aligning with the mission of the new Center of Excellence. This dedicated expertise is crucial for navigating the complex regulatory, technical, and commercial challenges inherent in scaling dual-use technologies globally.

Redefining Enterprise AI for a New Era

The dual-use initiative is not a pivot for BGV, but rather a "natural extension" of its long-standing "Enterprise 5.0" investment thesis. This framework centers on AI-native "systems of action"—intelligent platforms that don't just analyze data but actively execute workflows and drive outcomes. The firm sees dual-use technologies as the ultimate expression of this thesis, where these autonomous systems become essential for national resilience, economic sovereignty, and the next generation of industrial capacity.

According to BGV's recently published "Dual Use AI" whitepaper, the world is in the midst of a massive AI-driven infrastructure buildout. Projections show AI consuming up to 10% of global power by 2030, fueling a $5 trillion demand for new data centers. This unprecedented expansion exposes critical vulnerabilities in power grids and supply chains, realigning capital investment toward technologies that promise resilience and stability.

By formalizing its focus through the Center of Excellence, BGV is making a clear statement about the future of enterprise technology. The firm is betting that the most important and valuable companies of the next decade will be those that can successfully fuse commercial innovation with strategic necessity, building the foundational systems that power and protect the global economy. This strategy reinforces BGV's position as a global platform investing from seed to IPO in the companies building the next generation of AI-driven infrastructure.