This landmark contract is worth over $50 million.

By Hezy Laing

4M Analytics is an Israeli subsurface infrastructure mapping company founded by veterans of the IDF’s elite Yahalom engineering unit and Visual Intelligence Unit 9900.

Co-founders Itzik Malka, Nir Cohen, and Yoav Cohen established the firm in 2019 to transform how underground data is managed.

While the company achieved significant success in commercial utility mapping—securing over $140 million in funding from investors like Insight Partners and Viola Ventures—it has recently returned to its military roots through its subsidiary, 4M Defense.

In April 2026, 4M Defense was awarded a landmark contract worth over $50 million as part of a $1.7 billion national initiative by the Israeli Ministry of Defense to upgrade security along the eastern border, including critical mine-clearance along the Syrian frontier.

The company’s core technology, the Terrestrial Intelligence Platform (TIP), represents a massive shift from traditional demining, which often relies on manual labor and handheld detectors.

4M uses a sophisticated data-fusion engine that integrates high-resolution satellite imagery, drone mapping, and historical records with proprietary AI and computer vision.

This allows the system to identify surface indicators of buried hazards—such as pedestals, manholes, or specific topographical shifts—to predict the location of mines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) with high precision.

For the Syrian border project, the company uses autonomous robotic systems, including the Golem Detector, to detect and clear threats without putting personnel at risk.

Compared with competitors like Exodigo, which focuses heavily on multi-sensor fusion (GPR, electromagnetics) for on-site scanning, 4M Analytics differentiates itself through “Utility AI” that builds maps from existing big data and remote sensing.

This enables them to map massive areas—including the thousands of dunams involved in the Syrian border project—up to 90% faster than traditional methods.

By digitizing the “unseen world” before a single excavator or soldier enters the field, 4M is setting a new global standard for infrastructure safety and rapid large-scale demining.

The IDF is removing mines along the Syrian border to facilitate the construction of the Eastern Border Security Barrier, a $1.7 billion project.

This “smart border” aims to strengthen strategic control, block Iranian weapons smuggling, and prevent infiltrations following the upheaval in Syria.