Dovi Frances
Israeli venture capitalist (born 1978)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dov "Dovi" Frances (Hebrew: דובי פרנסס; born November 20, 1978) is an Israeli-American[1] venture capitalist Los Angeles[2] and television personality.[3] He founded Group 11, a Los Angeles-based venture capital firm[4] that has deployed over $660 million.[5] For four seasons, Frances appeared on the Israeli version of Shark Tank, called HaKrishim.[6]
Dovi Frances | |
|---|---|
| |
| Born | November 20, 1978 Israel |
| Citizenship | Israeli-American |
| Education | B.A. in Business Administration & Psychology Ben-Gurion University, MBA in Finance and Marketing UCLA Anderson School of Management |
| Occupations | Venture capitalist, entrepreneur, author, TV personality |
| Website | group11 |
Biography
Dov Frances was born in Holon, Israel. His father worked as a customs agent before establishing Holon Motors,[7] a car dealership business.[3] During his mandatory military service, Frances served as a company commander at Bahad 1, the Israel Defense Forces' Officers Academy.[8]
Frances earned a dual bachelor's degree in Business Administration and Psychology from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.[9] He then moved to the United States,[10] where he completed an MBA in Finance and Marketing from UCLA[11] Anderson School of Management in 2008.[7] After graduating, Frances joined Deutsche Bank in New York City as a private wealth manager for high-net-worth clients. In 2011, Russian billionaire Sergey Grishin recruited him to manage investments at SG,[10] a financial advisory company. Frances established a venture capital fund called "SGVC"[12] under the SG umbrella in 2012.[13]
Frances is married to Roni Eshel, a former Israeli surfing champion,[3] and they have three children. The family lives in Brentwood, Los Angeles.[1]
VC career
In May 2015, Frances purchased the SGVC venture capital fund[14] from Grishin and renamed it Group 11. The firm has deployed over $660 million across multiple funds.[5]
Group 11[15] has been an early investor in seven companies that achieved unicorn[16] status,[5] which includes Navan (NASDAQ: NAVN), Next Insurance (acq. by Munich Re for $2.6B),[17] Tipalti, Sunbit, HomeLight, Dream Security, and Masterschool.
In December 2025, an investigative report by the German newspaper Der Spiegel on former Austrian chancellor Sebastian Kurz, a co-founder of the cybersecurity company Dream Security in which Frances is an investor, stated that Frances maintains close ties with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump.[18]
Media career
Frances joined HaKrishim (The Sharks), the Israeli version of Shark Tank, when it premiered on February 20, 2018, on Channel 12.[19] He appeared as an investor for four seasons before stepping down[1] to focus on artificial intelligence policy work.[6]
Literary career
In 2024, Frances published Introduction to Victory (מבוא לניצחון) through Kinneret Zmora-Bitan Dvir publishing house.[1] The book became a best-seller[20] and he announced plans to distribute 14,000 copies to injured Israeli soldiers.[21]
Awards and recognition
In 2014, Frances facilitated a $201 million life insurance policy, recognized by Guinness World Records as the largest individual policy.[22]
In 2023, Frances received an award from the Israeli American Council and Israeli Consulate for outstanding achievements in technology and strengthening U.S.-Israel relations.[23] In 2024, he received the Ben-Gurion Award for contributions to Israel's economy, technological innovation, and support of the Negev region.[9] His investment views have been covered in Business Insider,[24] WSJ,[25] TechCrunch,[26] and Globes.[27]
In November 2024, Frances was appointed as a temporary advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on artificial intelligence matters.[28] He serves on the Board of Governors of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and co-founded The Institute, an AI research center at the university.[29] Frances also serves on the Steering Committee of the ICON Israel Collaboration Network.[30]