Grove Venture Partners adds Lior Handelsman as Partner

Israel-based Grove Ventures today announced that it is appointing Lior Handelsman as a partner. The venture capital fund, which specializes in technology investments, often partners with Israeli entrepreneurs with a proven track record for technology investments. Handelsman is one of the founders of the multi-billion dollar energy company SolarEdge.

The news comes after Grove Ventures announced that it has raised $123 million for its second fund, Grove II. It invests in startups that develop hard-to-replicate solutions pertaining to technology and science. Its existing portfolio of companies include Nucleai, an AI cancer detection company; Wiliot, an IoT company also backed by Amazon; and RapidAPI, the world’s largest API marketplace.

Lior Handelsman has more than a decade of experience in different positions in the Israeli Intelligence Corps. He founded SolarEdge soon after leaving the military and spent 14 years there, where he will bring his business experience and technological understanding to the role.

“I have been an entrepreneur myself and had the chance to be part of a management team of a startup from its inception, until reaching IPO,” said Lior Handelsman. “I accompanied Grove Ventures as a venture partner for more than a year – and I saw how much it helps its founders and portfolio companies at the forefront of technology in Israel and around the world”.

Handelsman will join managing partner and founder of Grove Ventures Dov Moran. Before founding the investment fund in 2016, Moran invented the now ubiquitous USB flash drive. “Our emphasis is on deep technology, and on entrepreneurs that develop game-changing technologies which are hard to create,” Moran said in a statement. “We are confident that both the fund and our portfolio companies will benefit greatly from an experienced entrepreneur like Lior.”