Ron Zori’s first brush with venture capital came during his freshman year at Columbia University, when he went to the Mercer Hotel in SoHo for coffee. As Zori tells it, he just happened to strike up a conversation with someone at a table nearby, who just happened to be Lukasz Gadowski, one of the founders of the brand-new startup Delivery Hero. Gadowski ended up introducing Zori to his lead investor, Kite Ventures’ Edward Shenderovich, who hired Zori out of college to support him in investing in companies like Dataminr, Lyft, and Plated.
That turned into leadership roles at Knotel and Public, side quests as an a16z scout and angel investor, and now Zori’s new gig—the first senior venture hire at the venerated New York firm Lerer Hippeau. “Serendipity,” as Zori describes it. His new boss, Ben Lerer, disagrees. “I’ve never met anybody in my life like that,” Lerer tells me from his firm’s headquarters overlooking the Hudson River, about a 10-minute walk from the Mercer Hotel. “I feel like Ron meets people like this twice a week.”
Known for its seed-stage investments in the New York consumer space into companies like Warby Parker and Casper, Lerer Hippeau recently announced its ninth fund, a $200 million vehicle that will look to capitalize on the growing buzz in sectors like AI and fintech. And despite the firm’s 15-year history, Lerer says that Zori’s hire marks the first time they’ve brought on a senior venture partner.
Zori, a pro soccer player in Israel before going to Columbia, has always had an eye on growth. He worked as the head of revenue at Knotel, a WeWork competitor that eventually filed for bankruptcy during the pandemic, joining the company in its infancy and helping take it to $370 million in recurring revenue. While at Knotel, he would meet with startups renting office space and occasionally write angel checks. His first was into a small fintech company called Public, which would gain unicorn status just a couple of years later. Zori joined in 2020 to work on business development. It was his second time experiencing a startup’s rocketship moment, as Public went from a few thousand users to a few million. “That was the rush,” he tells me. “That’s what I’m here for.”
At the end of 2022, Zori left to focus on his own investments, raising capital for special-purpose vehicles and deciding whether to start his own fund. He’d kept up a friendship with Lerer over the years, often feeding him deal flow. They also co-invested, including in Duet, a health tech startup led by former Knotel executive Jonathan Goldberg that helps nurse practitioners launch their own practices. “Ron was existing in my head as something between an emerging manager and a super angel,” Lerer tells me. He thought that Zori could have the most impact on startups by joining a platform with capital and resources like Lerer Hippeau. “It feels like a real value to get to work with somebody who you have an existing, trusted relationship with,” Lerer says.
Zori started at the firm two weeks ago and will have a hefty portfolio during this critical juncture for the venture industry. One priority will be looking at sectors where Zori has been in the trenches of “zero-to-one,” namely fintech and consumer, and figuring out where they’re headed. Another will be building Lerer Hippeau’s pipeline to Israeli and European startups, with Zori planning to spend about two months of the year out of Israel. “This marriage with Lerer Hippeau, I think, provides us the opportunity to actually give these founders the best platform as they expand to the U.S. market,” Zori says.
Leo Schwartz
X: @leomschwartz
Email: leo.schwartz@fortune.com
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Venture Deals
- Qlub, a Dubai-based contactless payment solution provider for restaurants, raised $30 million in funding. Shorooq and Cherry Ventures led the round major and were joined by e&, Mastercard, Mubadala Investments, and Legend Capital.
- Stellaria, a Grenoble, France-based sustainable nuclear energy company, raised €24 million ($27.9 million) in funding. One Ventures and Supernova Invest led the round and were joined by CEA Investissements, Schneider Electric, Exergon, and Technip Energies.
- Paddle, a London-based SaaS billing solutions provider, raised $25 million in funding. CIBC Innovation Banking led the round.
- Alix, a San Francisco-based AI-powered estate settlement platform, raised $20 million in Series A funding. Acrew Capital led the round and was joined by Charles Schwab, Edward Jones Ventures, Initialized Capital, Scribble, Magnify Ventures, and more.
- Mango, a Monterrey, Mexico-based provider of risk infrastructure for the construction industry, raised $3 million in seed funding. Ironspring Ventures led the round and was joined by Brick & Mortar Ventures, Great North Ventures, Buildtech Ventures, Incisive Ventures, and First Check Ventures.
- Dockware, a Tulsa-based AI-powered transportation and logistics company, raised $2.5 million in seed funding. Zenda VC led the round and was joined by Four More Capital, Karman Ventures, Hustle Fund, Starframe Capital, Cortado Ventures, and Operator Stack.
Private Equity
- LawnPRO Partners, backed by HCl Equity Partners, acquired Green Machine Lawn Care, a Kingston, Penn.-based provider of lawn care, tree care, and pest control services. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Exits
- doValue agreed to acquire a majority stake in The coeo Group, a Dormagen, Germany-based debt collection services provider, from Waterland Private Equity. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Other
- LS Power agreed to acquire bp Wind Energy North America, bp’s U.S. onshore wind business. Financial terms were not disclosed.
People
- Antler, a global venture capital firm, hired Lola Masha as partner in the company’s Lagos office. She previously was at Bolt.
