A few days ago, SA¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ News took a look at two regulatory filings for Boston-area VC firms that raised their largest funds to date. This afternoon brings a third fund into this week’s mix of Boston-related news.
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A posted this afternoon shows that Boston-based has raised $116.9 million for its second fund, appropriately called “Underscore.VC Fund II, L.P.” According to SA¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ data for the fund, include the , , and , a near 50-year veteran venture investor from .
And just like the funds closed by OpenView and CRV reported on earlier in the week, Underscore VC’s second fund is its largest closed to date. Its , announced in October 2016, was $85 million.
In announcing the new fund, the firm acknowledges a broad-based strategy to its investments, having invested “across domains including Open Source, AR/VR, AI/ML, eCommerce, MarTech, Cloud Infrastructure, Blockchain and IoT.”
According to SA¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ data, the fund has , and the firm said in its announcement that it has over twenty companies in its portfolio. Some investment highlights include:
- ³¢±ð²¹»å¾±²Ô²µÌý. Underscore VC partner that the firm created a special purpose vehicle to keep investing in Salsify to maintain its pro rata share of the product experience management platform company.
- Leading the and rounds of . In their announcement, the firm said, “We love partnering with these founders from the earliest days. […] When we were introduced to [the founder, ,] and we wrote our first check, he had merely a vision for what is now CloudZero.”
- Underscore VC participated in  (ICO) for  The crypto startup raised $133 million for a stable-priced cryptocurrency (a so-called “stablecoin”) which SA¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ News has covered in the past. Skok that although Underscore VC hasn’t had an exit in its portfolio yet, it has generated a financial return from its investment in an ICO; however, he declined to mention which coin offering. Underscore VC hasn’t invested in any other ICOs besides the one from Basis, at least according to SA¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ data.
The goal of this fund is to be able to build a bridge from seed-stage to early-stage funding for its portfolio companies, which is part of the reason the firm raised more money for this fund. Skok ³Ù´Ç±ô»åÌýXconomy that “most of these funds can’t write the Series A check. Our model does allow us to write that check.”
With a focus on nurturing companies from seedlings into stronger early-stage businesses with firmer footing, a structured approach to community-building, and a loyalty to the Boston metro area (where a plurality of its portfolio companies are based), Underscore VC may not be the biggest or richest firm on the block, but it may be able to punch above its weight.
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