Stepping Out of Stealth with a Bold Vision

Ryft, a New York and Tel Aviv–based startup founded in 2024 by Yossi Reitblat (CEO), Yuval Yogev (CTO), and Guy Gadon (VP of R&D), has emerged from stealth with an $8 million seed funding round led by Index Ventures, alongside Bessemer Venture Partners and seasoned investors from Wiz, Zscaler, CrowdStrike, Confluent, and Cisco.

The company introduces a cloud-native data management platform built around Apache Iceberg, giving enterprises advanced control over their data infrastructure without vendor lock-in. Ryft’s mission is to empower organizations to own their data pipelines completely while enjoying the flexibility to choose their analytics engines and storage solutions freely.

Tackling Vendor Lock-In in the Lakehouse Era

For years, enterprises have leaned heavily on platforms like Snowflake, Databricks, AWS, and Google for data storage and analysis. While these tools offer undeniable power and ease, they often trap organizations in restrictive ecosystems, with rising costs and inflexible architectures.

Ryft addresses this challenge by offering a managed layer on top of Apache Iceberg that handles optimization, governance, compliance, and disaster recovery - without forcing companies into a proprietary straitjacket. With Ryft, businesses gain the ability to decouple their data from any single vendor, opening up a world of choice and future-proofing their infrastructure for emerging AI workloads and evolving analytics needs.

Engineering Born from Intelligence and Expertise

Ryft’s founding team previously worked together in Israel’s elite military intelligence unit, where they developed large-scale data systems under extreme performance and security demands. This background gave them firsthand insight into how critical data flexibility and ownership are when stakes are high.

Today, Ryft’s early customers already span finance, e-commerce, adtech, gaming, and cybersecurity. With a growing team of around 13 employees, the company is focused on expanding its reach across sectors that demand both speed and control in data management.

Ryft exemplifies a vital strategy for deep-tech entrepreneurs: solve the pain points users assume they must live with. Vendor lock-in isn’t something every enterprise complains about daily - it’s simply accepted. By targeting that silent friction, Ryft isn’t just offering a better tool - it’s offering freedom and predictability that organizations didn't even know they could have. 

This reveals a transformative lesson for founders: lasting innovation often emerges from removing constraints that have become invisible over time. Deliver that clarity and autonomy, and you don’t need a flashy pitch. Your product spreads because it feels obvious and indispensable - well before it becomes the industry norm.

Purposeful Scaling and Sustainable Revenue

Ryft’s annual subscription model charges customers based on the volume of data managed, which directly aligns revenue with real-world impact. Instead of punishing customers with unpredictable overage fees or tying them down with complex contracts, Ryft’s approach ensures simplicity and predictability, fostering stronger trust and adoption among enterprise clients.

The fresh $8 million infusion will support team growth, product development, and strategic partnerships to strengthen integrations across the modern data and AI ecosystem. These efforts will position Ryft as the backbone for companies transitioning to more modular, open data architectures.

Built for the Enterprise from Day One

Security and compliance aren’t optional in today’s data-driven landscape. Ryft has prioritized robust governance and privacy standards from its inception, with features designed to meet strict requirements in sectors like healthcare, financial services, and regulated enterprise software.

As AI becomes more embedded in mission-critical operations, data integrity and ownership will only grow in importance. Ryft’s emphasis on compliance and flexibility places it at the forefront of this movement, providing enterprises with a foundation that’s both powerful and future-ready.

Redefining the Future of Data Infrastructure

Ryft’s Iceberg-native model isn’t just a technical upgrade - it represents a philosophical shift in how data infrastructure can support AI innovation. Instead of locking companies into static vendor-specific stacks, Ryft allows them to freely combine best-of-breed analytics tools, optimize costs, and move with agility in response to new business needs.

This decoupling of infrastructure from proprietary constraints allows organizations to think bigger and iterate faster, supporting a future where data is as dynamic as the ideas it fuels.

Final Thoughts

Ryft’s $8 million seed round is more than a funding milestone - it’s a signal that enterprises are hungry for a new model of data ownership and flexibility. By solving the invisible pain of vendor lock-in and empowering teams to reclaim control, Ryft is setting a new benchmark for what modern data infrastructure should look like.