Israeli VC firm Viola Growth targets raise of third, $280 million fund

Editor’s note: This exclusive article from CTech (Meir Orbach) was syndicated with permission.

Israel-based venture capital fund Viola Growth, of the Viola Group, is raising a third fund. According to documents filed with the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission in April, the fund has already raised $40 million in commitments, but several people familiar with the matter who spoke to Calcalist on condition of anonymity said the fund has already closed commitments of $280 million in total.

Viola Growth specialized in growth-stage companies, meaning companies with an annual turnover of at least $10 million and a few dozen employees, and typically invests $10 million to $15 million in each round.

Viola's first fund, raised in 2008, closed at $164 million. Its second, raised in 2014, closed at $274 million.

Portfolio companies include Interactive content company Playbuzz Ltd., web traffic analytics company SimilarWeb Ltd., and web personalization company Dynamic Yield Ltd., recently acquired by McDonald's for $300 million.

The Viola Group, founded by Shlomo Dovrat and Avi Zeevi, has over $2.8 billion in assets under management. Viola Growth's team includes Harel Beit-On, Natalie Refuah, Sami Totah, Jonathan Kolber, and Ayal Shiran, as well as Eran Westman and Rafi Carmeli, who have joined in the past year.