PYMNTS-MonitorEdge-May-2024

Initialized Capital Management’s Fifth Fund Notches $230M For Startup VC

Initialized Capital Management's Fifth Fund Notches $230M

Initialized Capital Management has raised $230 million for Initialized V, the California venture firm’s fifth fund, which is geared toward backing early-stage companies, Bloomberg reported.

Initialized Capital Management Co-Founder Garry Tan told Bloomberg, “We love finding tomorrow’s unicorns.”

The fund intends to invest in roughly 45 startups during the three years to come, and it will be geared toward seed investing.

The company’s current portfolio encompasses different unicorns. It made early wagers on firms such as digital lending company Blend, digital currency exchange Coinbase and grocery delivery firm Instacart, among others.

Those on the firm’s fifth fund team will include Tan along with Alda Leu Dennis, Brett Gibson, Kim-Mai Cutler, Andrew Lee and Jen Wolf.

Tan noted the vehicle was “heavily oversubscribed” even with the departure of Co-Founder Alexis Ohanian. Tan said, “He’s a great investor and remains a friend of the firm’s.”

Ohanian is reportedly investing himself in the new investment vehicle.

Last August, news surfaced that Atoms, a direct-to-consumer (DTC) footwear company, notched $8.1 million in a Series A round. The company provides sizes in quarters in lieu of halves and lets shoppers purchase different sizes for each foot.

The firm was to use the money to keep investing in its footwear and expand its marketing as well as retail footprint. It sells directly via the web and had a waiting list of approximately 40,000 individuals per news last August.

Initialized Capital was started by Ohanian and Tan, who met the Atoms founders via a Y combinator startup.

The firm’s shoes are meant to be simple in style. Co-Founder Sidra Qasim said, “We will make only one shoe design a year, but we want to make that really well.”

Ohanian said per past news that he truly believes in the footwear. “The thing that I love about Atoms is that it isn’t just a different look, it’s a different feel,” he said.

PYMNTS-MonitorEdge-May-2024