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via NetworkWire – Fort Ross Ventures, a venture-capital firm focused on startups in the U.S., Israel, and Eastern Europe, today announced that it closed an oversubscribed $235 million Fund II, raising an additional $35 million beyond its target. Additionally, the company announced that Ms. Sharin Fisher, former officer of Israel’s elite cyber-intelligence agency, Unit 8200, has joined the firm as a partner to help identify cybersecurity, SaaS, big data, artificial intelligence, and fintech startups. Fisher will join the Israel office based in Tel Aviv.

Demand for Fund II was fueled by the firm’s recent exits, including Dynamic Yield (acquired by McDonald’s for $327M), CoverWallet (acquired by Aon), and the IPOs of Uber (NYSE: UBER) and Tufin (NYSE: TUFN). Fort Ross’s two funds combined have a total of $345 million assets under management (AUM).

“In these volatile financial times, we’re pleased that our second fund has garnered so much attention. This allows us to continue to bridge the U.S. and Israeli startup ecosystems with Eastern European markets,” said Victor Orlovski, Founder and Managing Partner at Fort Ross Ventures. 

New partner Sharin Fisher brings 14 years of technology-focused experience from serving nine years at Unit 8200’s Cyber-Intelligence Agency and leading the 8200 EISP, a top Israeli accelerator. She will maintain a board position at 8200 EISP and at the 8200 alumni association.

“In getting to know the team at Fort Ross, I was impressed by their deep breadth of expertise as well as their ability to expand their portfolio companies’ growth globally,” said Fisher. “I’m happy to join Fort Ross, which is not only unique in its geographical focus, but also by being operator-led with a team of industry pioneers from complementary backgrounds.”

Fort Ross’s Fund II focuses on startups specializing in cloud, fintech, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and marketplaces. It recently participated in Roofstock’s Series D, Fetch Robotics Series C and FireFly’s Series A2.

About Fort Ross VenturesFort Ross Ventures brings together Silicon Valley venture expertise with an extensive network of relationships in the U.S., Israel, and Eastern Europe. The firm leverages their cultural and business development connections to accelerate success for portfolio companies including Uber, GridGain, Moven, eToro, Tufin, NetGuardians, Mobeewave and LendingHome, among others. For more information, visit www.fortross.vc, LinkedIn and Twitter.

Contact:Andrea HeuerConsort Partners PR for Fort Ross Venturesfortross@consortpartners.com

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