Team8 Capital raising $250–300M third fund
The venture arm of the Team8 Group raised $235 million for its second fund in March 2024.
The venture capital firm Team8 Capital is in the advanced stages of raising a new fund of $250–300 million, Calcalist has learned. This will be the second fund the firm’s partners have raised since the outbreak of the war in Israel on October 7, 2023, and the third overall since the fund’s inception.
In March 2024, Team8 Capital raised $235 million for its second fund. The current fundraising is progressing quickly after partners Sarit Firon, Liran Grinberg, and Hadar Siterman Norris held a series of meetings with numerous wealth management entities (family offices) in Israel and abroad.
Team8 Capital is the traditional venture capital arm of the broader Team8 Group, founded by Nadav Zafrir, now CEO of Check Point, to launch and support startups. Team8 both establishes companies and invests in technology ventures across cyber, data, fintech, and digital health. Its model pairs entrepreneurs with in-house research to identify major market opportunities and develop technology companies together.
Zafrir founded the investment group in 2014, and in 2019 partnered with Firon to create Team8 Capital. In that short time, the firm has raised three investment funds. The first fund has been fully invested, and the second is already backing a number of companies. The new fund is expected to close by the end of 2025. Team8 Capital declined to comment on the fundraising.
The fund has a strong track record. In recent years, it recorded major exits, including the sale of Dig Security and Talon Cyber Security to Palo Alto Networks for a combined $1 billion shortly after the October 7 attack. In 2023, portfolio company Planck was acquired by Applied Systems for $300 million. Other significant portfolio companies include quantum computing firm Classiq, which recently raised $110 million, and cyber company Ox Security, which raised $60 million.
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Launching a new fund amid the current geopolitical climate is notable. International sentiment toward Israel has cooled in recent months, with many foreign investment managers choosing to wait until the war ends. University endowments, traditionally strong backers of VC funds, have also seen donations decline, resulting in reduced venture allocations.
Earlier this year, Firon told Calcalist: “Investors from abroad still see Israel as a technology hub second only to the United States, and they continued to demonstrate their confidence by coming here. In the past, this might have surprised me, but today, it doesn’t. Sometimes you need to hear how people from the outside talk about Israel to feel encouraged, and even inspired. The fact is, huge international funds like Sequoia and Greylock opened offices in Israel this year.”
In 2024, fundraising by Israeli venture capital funds hit a decade-low. Only five funds raised more than $100 million, compared to nine in 2023. None raised more than $200 million, except Red Dot, which closed a $320 million fund, and Greenfield, which raised $400 million.
