- Curry has invested millions in Israeli cybersecurity startups linked to Unit 8200 implicated in surveillance and attacks on Gaza.
- Many highlight the contrast in Curry’s participation in events like the Warriors’ Muslim Heritage Night and assisting the ongoing genocide of Muslims in Gaza.
American NBA superstar Stephen Curry has been widely regarded as one of the greatest shooters in basketball history. He was drafted with Golden State Warriors in 2009.
Alarmingly, Curry has invested in tech companies run and staffed by former Israeli spies.
This week, Israel has reportedly admitted that at least 70,000 Gazans have been killed in Israeli attacks since 7 October 2023. However, experts have warned that the true number of those brutally murdered is likely to be much higher.
An investigation published by Gray Zone News reports that Stephen Curry has invested through his venture capital firm, Penny Jar Capital, in several tech startups founded by former Israeli military intelligence operatives.
Curry reportedly invested millions in cybersecurity companies, including Zafran Security and Upwind, whose leadership all have backgrounds in IDF intelligence units and connections to broader military and surveillance networks that have helped build what critics describe as Israel’s “architecture of apartheid and genocide.”
Zafran Security, which Curry’s firm backed in a $30 million funding round in 2024, is led by Sanaz Yashar, an Iranian raised in Tehran who was recruited as a teenager by Israel and spent 15 years in Unit 8200, the branch of the IDF responsible for intercepting and hacking communications. Her tenure included numerous assaults on Gaza, including the 2014 bombardment that killed over 2,200 Palestinians and the 2018–19 March of Return, during which Israeli snipers killed hundreds and deliberately maimed thousands.
Yashar’s co-founders, Ben Seri and Snir Havdala, are also former Israeli intelligence officers. Havdala served a decade in Unit 8200, while Seri was in Unit 81, which develops Israel’s offensive cyber weapons used against Palestinians, Iran, and others. All three were awarded prizes for their work in the IDF. Curry’s other co-investor in Zafran, Cyberstarts, was founded by Gili Raanan, a senior figure in Israel’s military intelligence establishment. Raanan served 15 years in Unit 8200 and received Israel’s presidential defence prize for his role in creating the country’s apartheid infrastructure.
The other Israeli cybersecurity company backed by Curry is cloud-security startup Upwind, founded by Amiram Shachar, Lavi Ferdman, and Liran Polak, all of whom served in the IDF’s Mamram unit, responsible for building and maintaining military software and processing all signals intelligence. Shortly after founding the firm, the three former Mamram agents hired Tomer Hadassi, a Unit 8200 veteran, as chief operating officer. In an October 2023 LinkedIn post, Upwind stated that “many” of their team in Israel had been drafted as reservists to participate in the genocide of Gaza. Last year, Upwind CEO Shachar posted a photo of himself with Curry on LinkedIn.
In 204, Curry participated in the Golden State Warriors’ Muslim Heritage Night at the Chase Centre, an event organised in partnership with HalalFest. Many have criticised his involvement with such events when he is happy to be involved in funding the massacre of many Muslims.
