Shir Abecasis, who recently sold the construction technology company she founded in a deal valued at $79.5 million, did not grow up around venture capital or startup culture.
Raised in Be'er Sheva, Abecasis spent most of her childhood training as a classical ballet dancer. At home, she and her younger brother also played computer games, an activity that would eventually redirect her path. “One day we decided to try developing online games and make a bit of money,” she said. “There was competition between us over whose game would get more downloads.”
Without formal training, the siblings searched online for ways to learn programming and began writing code on their own. The game they built together attracted about 500 users. “That was the moment I fell in love with technology,” Abecasis said. “It gave me a feeling of control — you imagine something, and then you’re able to make it real.”
At 18, Abecasis was drafted into Unit 8200, the military’s elite intelligence and technology unit, an experience she described as a cultural shock. Soldiers around her spoke openly about startups, venture capital and future careers in high tech — concepts that had been largely absent from her upbringing. “I was surprised to discover that people my age already knew they would work in tech after the army,” she said. “Instead of feeling sorry for myself, I focused on closing the gap.”
After completing her military service and several years working in the defense system, Abecasis transitioned to the private sector. She later moved to London, where she worked while completing a degree in computer science at Reichman University through distance learning. During that period, she launched a social initiative using dance to connect students from different cultural backgrounds. The project led to an invitation to present it to Queen Elizabeth II during a university visit. “It was an exciting moment,” Abecasis said. “I wore blue and white and felt very Israeli.”
When she returned to Israel, Abecasis was accepted into the Zell Entrepreneurship Program at Reichman University, a selective track that admits a small number of students each year. It was there that the idea for Firmus AI took shape. She founded the company with a partner, though the two later parted ways, leaving Abecasis to lead the business alone.
Firmus AI developed artificial intelligence and machine learning tools designed to analyze construction plans and identify inconsistencies, missing data and potential risks before construction begins. “In construction, there are developers, planners and contractors, and contractors often have just days to submit bids based on thousands of pages of plans,” Abecasis said. “There’s no real ability to review everything manually.”
The technology, she said, consolidates information across plans and alerts users to contradictions and errors. “We can flag things like a bathroom fixture that isn’t connected to water or a wall that doesn’t need to be there,” she said.
The company grew rapidly, expanding operations to the United States and Europe and reaching about 4 million users worldwide. Firmus AI employs about 40 people. The German construction software group Nemetschek acquired the company and retained Abecasis as chief executive. She has declined to comment on the sale price.
As the company expanded, competitors began entering the field. Abecasis said she chose not to focus on them. “I don’t want to spend my energy looking sideways,” she said. “We were the pioneers, and my job is to make sure we keep building.”
Abecasis, who now lives in Miami, conducted negotiations for the sale while in advanced pregnancy and gave birth to her first child several months ago. She is married to Lior Abramovitch, founder and chief executive of a real estate company. The couple, she said, always planned to share parenting responsibilities. “There is no perfect time to have children,” Abecasis said. “You just have to decide and do it.”
Following the sale, Abecasis donated to a scholarship fund for student entrepreneurs at Reichman University. According to the university, she is the first graduate to have allocated company options to the institution at the time of founding and later made a donation after an exit.
Looking back, Abecasis said the most significant obstacle she sees for women in technology is not technical ability but confidence. “Women shrink themselves too often,” she said. “There’s nothing noble about thinking small. When you stop limiting yourself, you become a force that’s hard to stop.”