Despite the battle between Hezbollah terrorists and Israeli Defense Forces, one Boston-based venture firm is undeterred by the violence. It announced the final close on a new fund to invest in Israeli startups. Greylock Partners of Waltham, Mass. announced it had raised $150 million for its first fund dedicated to Israel, according to The Boston Globe. The firm has already made eight investments in the country through its earlier funds. Greylock's optimism is echoed by a recent Dun & Bradstreet report about the violence along Israel's northern border with Lebanon where most of the action is taking place. D&B estimates the war costs Israel about 500 million shekels ($112 million) a day in part because of the cessation of economic activities in northern cities like Haifa, the country's third largest. However, D&B believes most of the losses are not in the high-tech industry, which is having its best year since 2000 when the Palestinian uprising known as the Intifada began prompting venture capitalists to cut back their investments after a run up began in the mid 1990s following the Oslo Peace Accords of 1993. Evidently, venture capitalists have a stronger stomach for the violence this time around.—Matthew Wurtzel
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