Good day. Israeli venture firm Iron Nation secured a $15 million limited-partner commitment from the State of Indiana to back its second fund as part of a broader collaboration.

Iron Nation’s portfolio companies will be encouraged to “establish their U.S. headquarters in Indiana, positioning the state as a launchpad into the broader U.S. market,” said Gil Friedlander, co-founder and managing partner of Iron Nation.

The startups will be able to build on local connections in Indiana, home to educational institutions such as Purdue University, as well as corporations like Eli Lilly.

The state, meanwhile, “benefits from the inflow of high-growth startups, accelerating innovation and economic development,” he said.

Iron Nation was created as an emergency venture fund to support Israeli startups in the days following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel. The firm raised $20 million for its first fund and backed two dozen startups. It was set up on a pro-bono basis, not charging fees, with many Israeli venture investors contributing their time to the project also free of charge.

One of Iron Nation’s portfolio companies, Illumex, which prepares data for AI use, was acquired by Nvidia earlier this year, Friedlander said.

Now, Iron Nation, based in Raanana, a city in central Israel, is raising a $60 million second fund that will be a more standard venture pool, charging fees, Friedlander said. The firm backs startups that are starting to scale up and are looking to commercialize in the U.S., he said.

Iron Nation Fund II has already raised $47 million from LPs including high-net-worth individuals, family offices, Jewish federations and the state of Indiana, he said.

“The initiative was initially driven by a group of Indiana-based evangelical business leaders who supported Iron Nation’s early fundraising efforts,” Friedlander said. “As the relationship developed, we identified a broader economic opportunity to build a strategic bridge between Israel and Indiana—and the wider U.S. market,” he said.

And now on to the news...

AI revamp. Palo Alto Networks founder Nir Zuk agreed to buy local California lender Liberty Bank, according to people familiar with the matter. Zuk plans to use Liberty as a launchpad for artificial-intelligence tools aimed at financial services. The billionaire Zuk has sought approval from U.S. regulators to acquire the largest stake in Liberty from private-equity firms Stone Point Capital and Reverence Capital Partners, the people said. Betsy and Daniel Cohen, the mother-and-son fintech entrepreneurs, also plan to invest in the deal, the people said.

Now you can buy a brand-new Corvette on Amazon.com. The e-commerce giant has quietly expanded its car sales business over the past year and a half. What started as an experiment with Hyundai Motors has grown in recent months to include vehicles from Kia, Mazda, Subaru, Chevrolet and Jeep. The service, called Amazon Autos, is active in over 130 cities, including Los Angeles, Dallas and New York, the company said.

The little movie-streaming service behind the award-winning box office smash “The Substance” had hit it big. Soon after securing its first best-picture Oscar nomination, Mubi landed a $100 million investment led by Sequoia Capital, one of Silicon Valley’s top-venture capital shops. The deal valued Mubi at $1 billion, giving it unicorn status. But the investment ended up sending a fast-growing startup into a tailspin.

People

Xora Innovation, an early-stage AI and deep tech venture firm, appointed Eric Rosenblum as general partner. He was previously managing partner at Foothill Ventures.

Cytovale, a medical diagnostics company focused on the early detection of sepsis, appointed Eric Khairy as chief marketing officer. He previously served as senior vice president of marketing and commercial operations at Inari Medical.

Route, a post-purchase platform for ecommerce brands, appointed Arman Panjwani as chief financial officer. He previously served as chief strategy and financial officer at LawnStarter.

Syndio, an AI-native platform for pay decisions, named Erik Darby as president. He previously co‑founded Motive Software, which was acquired by BetterUp.

Blocks, a Berlin-based AI startup that helps companies reduce and control cloud spending, picked up a $6 million pre-seed round led by Speedinvest.

Flora Fertility, a fertility insurance platform based in Chicago and Canada, closed a $5 million seed round led by ManchesterStory.

Refiant AI, a South Africa-headquartered startup using nature-inspired algorithms to reduce the energy footprint of AI, landed $5 million in seed funding led by VoLo Earth Ventures.

Pomo, a San Francisco-based autonomous AI marketing platform, was seeded with a $4.5 million investment. Kindred Ventures led the round, which included participation from Databricks Ventures, 645 Ventures and others.

Sigma Automate, an Atlanta-headquartered IT automation startup, emerged from stealth with nearly $2.8 million in funding led by Glasswing Ventures.

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This newsletter was compiled by Matthew Strozier and Zachary Cole.

Share your tips, comments and questions: vcnews@wsj.com

The team: Matthew Strozier, Yuliya Chernova, and Brian Gormley.

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