Dov "Dovi" Frances (Hebrew: דובי פרנסס; born November 20, 1978) is an Israeli-American

venture capitalist Venture capital (VC) is a form of private equity financing provided by firms or funds to startup, early-stage, and emerging companies, that have been deemed to have high growth potential or that have demonstrated high growth in terms of number ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

and

television personality Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group due to the attention given to them by mass media. The word is also used to refer to famous individuals. A person may attain celebrity status by having great w ...

. He founded Group 11, a Los Angeles-based venture capital firm that has deployed over $660 million. Since 2018, Frances has appeared on the Israeli version of

Shark Tank ''Shark Tank'' is an American business Reality television#Investments, reality television series that premiered on August 9, 2009, on American Broadcasting Company, ABC.Hibberd, James (May 10, 2012)Dancing,' 'Bachelor,' and a bigger 'Shark Tank ...

, called "HaKrishim".

Early life and career

Frances was born in

Holon Holon (, ) is a city in the Tel Aviv District of Israel, located south of Tel Aviv. Holon is part of the Gush Dan, Gush Dan metropolitan area. In , it had a population of , making it the List of cities in Israel, tenth most populous city in Isra ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, where he grew up in a working-class family. His father worked as a customs agent before establishing Holon Motors, a car dealership business. During his

mandatory military service Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it contin ...

, Frances served as a

company commander A company is a military unit, typically consisting of 100–250 soldiers and usually commanded by a major or a captain. Most companies are made up of three to seven platoons, although the exact number may vary by country, unit type, and struc ...

at Bahad 1, the

Israeli Defense Forces Israeli may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the State of Israel * Israelis, citizens or permanent residents of the State of Israel * Modern Hebrew, a language * ''Israeli'' (newspaper), published from 2006 to 2008 * Guni Israeli (b ...

' Officers Academy. Frances earned a dual bachelor's degree in Business Administration and Psychology from

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) (, ''Universitat Ben-Guriyon baNegev'') is a public university, public research university in Beersheba, Israel. Named after Israeli List of national founders, national founder David Ben-Gurion, the unive ...

. He then moved to the United States, where he completed an MBA in Finance and Marketing from

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

Anderson School of Management in 2008. After graduating, Frances joined

Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bank AG (, ) is a Germany, German multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange. ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

as a private wealth manager for high-net-worth clients. In 2011, Russian billionaire Sergey Grishin recruited him to manage investments at SG, a financial advisory company. Frances established a

venture capital fund Venture capital (VC) is a form of private equity financing provided by firms or funds to startup, early-stage, and emerging companies, that have been deemed to have high growth potential or that have demonstrated high growth in terms of number ...

called "SGVC" under the SG umbrella in 2012.

Group 11

In May 2015, Frances purchased the SGVC venture capital fund from Grishin and renamed it Group 11. The firm has deployed over $660 million across multiple funds. In June 2024, research firm

Preqin Preqin Ltd. is a Privately held company, privately held London-based investment data company that provides Financial data vendor, financial data and insight on the alternative assets market, as well as tools to support investment in alternatives. ...

ranked Group 11 first among U.S. venture capital funds for performance. The same year,

HEC Paris HEC Paris () is a business school and ''grande école'' located in Jouy-en-Josas, a southwestern outer suburb of Paris, France. It offers Bachelor, MiM, MSc in International Finance, MBA, EMBA, executive education, professional developm ...

-DowJones ranked the firm third globally among venture capital funds. Group 11 has invested in seven companies that achieved unicorn status. The portfolio includes Tipalti (valued at $8.3 billion),

Navan Navan ( ; , meaning "the Cave") is the county town and largest town of County Meath, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is at the confluence of the River Boyne and Leinster Blackwater, Blackwater, around 50 km northwest of Dublin. At the ...

(valued at $9.2 billion), and Next Insurance, which was acquired for $2.6 billion in 2025. Other investments include HomeLight, Sunbit (valued at $1.1 billion), Dream Security, Masterschool, AeroPay, BridgeWise, Healthee, and Venn.

Television career

Frances joined "HaKrishim" (The Sharks), the Israeli version of

, when it premiered on February 20, 2018, on Channel 12. He appeared as an investor for four seasons before stepping down to focus on artificial intelligence policy work.

Personal life

Frances is married to Roni Eshel, a former Israeli surfing champion, and they have three children. The family lives in Brentwood,

. In 2014, Frances facilitated a $201 million life insurance policy, recognized by

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, list ...

as the largest individual policy. 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. In 2024, he received the Ben-Gurion Award for contributions to Israel's economy, technological innovation, and support of the Negev region. His investment views have been covered in

Business Insider ''Business Insider'' (stylized in all caps: BUSINESS INSIDER; known from 2021 to 2023 as INSIDER) is a New York City–based multinational financial and business news website founded in 2007. Since 2015, a majority stake in ''Business Inside ...

WSJ ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

TechCrunch TechCrunch is an American global online newspaper focusing on topics regarding high tech, high-tech and Startup company, startup companies. It was founded in June 2005 by Archimedes Ventures, led by partners Michael Arrington and Keith Teare. I ...

, and

Globes A globe is a spherical model of Earth, of some other celestial body, or of the celestial sphere. Globes serve purposes similar to maps, but, unlike maps, they do not distort the surface that they portray except to scale it down. A model globe o ...

. In November 2024, Frances was appointed as a temporary advisor to Israeli Prime Minister

Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin Netanyahu (born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who has served as the prime minister of Israel since 2022, having previously held the office from 1996 to 1999 and from 2009 to 2021. Netanyahu is the longest-serving prime min ...

on artificial intelligence matters. He serves on the Board of Governors of

and co-founded The Institute, an AI research center at the university. Frances also serves on the Steering Committee of the

ICON An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic Church, Catholic, and Lutheranism, Lutheran churches. The most common subjects include Jesus, Mary, mother of ...

Israel Collaboration Network. In 2024, he published "Introduction to Victory" (מבוא לניצחון) through

Kinneret Zmora-Bitan Dvir Kinneret Zmora-Bitan Dvir is a book publishing company in Israel. History The company's oldest imprint, Dvir, was founded in Odessa in 1919 by Hayim Nahman Bialik.

publishing house.The book became a best-seller and he announced plans to distribute 14,000 copies to injured Israeli soldiers.

References

External links

Official website of Group 11
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frances, Dovi 1978 births Israeli venture capitalists Israeli investors Israeli businesspeople Israeli company founders Ben-Gurion University of the Negev alumni UCLA Anderson School of Management alumni Israeli expatriates in the United States People from Los Angeles Living people