Greylock Partners, a US venture capital firm, has held a final close of its Greylock Israel fund with $150 million (€120 million) of commitments.
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The fund, managed by Greylock partners Moshe Mor, Erez Ofer and Yoram Snir, focuses exclusively on Israeli early-stage technology companies.Â
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Mor and Snir recently relocated from Greylock’s US base in Massachussetts to join Ofer in the firm’s Hertzelia office.
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Greylock has traditionally invested in Israeli companies from its US funds, including Greylock XII, which closed on $500 million last November.
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Since 2001, the firm has invested in eight Israeli hi-tech businesses, the most recent being Imperva, a data security company which raised $17 million in May. Greylock joined existing investors Accel Partners, US Venture Partners and Venrock Associates in the Series C financing.
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Greylock’s fundraising follows a busy second quarter for Israeli high-tech companies. According to data from the IVC Research Centre, capital raised by Israeli high-tech companies in the second quarter of 2006 reached $404 million, up 12 percent on the first quarter.
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However, foreign investors were responsible for the lion’s share of investments in the second quarter. Israeli VCs invested $154 million in local companies, a decrease of 13 percent on the previous quarter and six percent below second quarter 2005 figures. The Israeli VC share of the total amount invested in Israeli high-tech was 38 percent, with the remainder from both foreign investors and non-VC Israeli investors.
Greylock takes $150m for Israeli high-tech
Greylock Partners has raised $150m for its first fund dedicated to investing in Israel’s high-tech sector, which received $404m of venture capital funding in the second quarter.