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
Elizabeth Byington, Spark PR, 1
6312943672, elizabeth.byington@sparkpr.com
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SOURCE H/L Ventures