H/L Ventures' early stage venture capital fund, CityRock Venture Partners Fund II, to continue backing and providing active engagement to Seed and Series A startups at the nexus of growth, impact and diversity
NEW YORK, July 24, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- CityRock Venture Partners Fund II, an H/L Ventures fund, announced the close of its $24M Fund II. CityRock Fund II is the second Series A-focused vintage in H/L Ventures' fund family. It will invest in early stage startups solving challenges in areas such as climate and energy, healthcare, fintech, protective industries, and the future of work and workplace. CityRock Fund II shares the same core thesis as the broader H/L ecosystem, supporting startups at the intersection of growth, impact, and diversity, and also applies extraordinary levels of active engagement to help these companies grow. CityRock Fund II's core investments will begin in Series A, but the fund also features a Seed Program to support the pre-Series A portfolio companies of the H/L Studios.
According to Pitchbook, only 12 second-time funds were raised in 2023, underscoring both the challenges of the current investment environment and, as a result, the level of investor confidence in CityRock's approach. CityRock was able to present a proven leadership team that has worked together for almost two decades, the active engagement approach to venture, and the growth potential of impactful companies with diverse founding teams. Underrepresented founders account for 84.6% of CityRock founders, which is 3.1x higher than industry norms.
"We've focused on providing growth and value to LPs since our inception in 2009. As stewards of capital, we're grateful our investors recognized our value and invested their assets with us for Fund II," said Eric Hatzimemos, Chairman and CEO H/L Ventures and CityRock Ventures.
"The combination of investment in high growth companies with positive impact and diverse leadership teams, along with our Daily Active Engagement model, is purpose-built for this era," said Oliver Libby, Managing Partner at H/L Ventures and CityRock Ventures. "The world needs solutions more than ever, and the founders we are proud to invest in and support so staunchly strive both to solve global challenges for people and the planet, and to build valuable companies with strong economic outcomes. These goals are not only not mutually exclusive; they are complementary in our experience."
An important pillar of H/L Ventures and its CityRock family of funds is Daily Active Engagement. This unusual level of institutional grade portfolio value-add underpins the investment thesis of all of H/L's vehicles. In practice, it means the CityRock team is in contact with every company in the portfolio on a virtually daily and open-ended basis. In order to support these activities, the H/L Ventures team features full time Staff, Advisors, Venture Partners, Experts-in-Residence, and a powerful network of service providers working together to help founders achieve their goals. Through engaging with founders so frequently, CityRock Fund II is aiming to both accelerate and enhance the chances of success for each founder and portfolio company.
"Through Daily Active Engagement we ensure that our founders have access to the resources that they need to succeed – from marketing and sales, to HR and legal," said Galina Ozgur, VP of Platform for H/L Ventures. "We believe that once we invest in a startup, helping out at institutional scale should be valuable. We provide our founders with a level of support they would be hard pressed to find elsewhere."
Since its first close, CityRock has completed six primary investments and ten seed investments. According to Pitchbook, CityRock was one of just 62% of VC firms that did one or more deals last year. Primary investments from CityRock Fund II so far include Automotus, Glacier Grid, Meroxa, Monument, Sealed, and Sorcero.
CityRock Fund I is fully deployed in 15 companies, including Andie Swim, Aunt Flow, BlocPower, Group Black, Loliware, Sealed, and Sorcero. H/L Studio also has some 40 portfolio companies amassed over a 15 year history and three Studio fund vintages.
The H/L Ventures and CityRock Venture Partners teams are enthusiastic about actively supporting the vital start-up economy, especially in challenging times, as inspiring diverse founders strive to build valuable and impactful companies.
About H/L Ventures
Hatzimemos / Libby Holdings LLC, ("H/L Ventures") and its CityRock family of venture funds, strives to help founders build inspiring, valuable companies from inception to exit. Founded in 2009, H/L Ventures began its history as one of the first modern venture studios, and certainly among the earliest company-building firms focused on start-ups at the nexus of growth, impact, and diversity. H/L Ventures is specifically designed to deliver consistently on Daily Active Engagement with its portfolio companies, providing an unparalleled ecosystem of resources to entrepreneurs throughout their journey. For more info visit www.h-l.vc.
Media Contact
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SOURCE H/L Ventures
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