Moderne Ventures has held a final close on more than $230 million for its third flagship fund, making it the second-largest women-led venture fund raised this year.

The Chicago-based firm, founded in 2015 by managing partner Constance Freedman, has shown significant growth with each fund. It raised $43 million for its debut vehicle in May 2018, then closed on $200 million for Fund II in August 2021, according to fundraising data from affiliate title Buyouts.

MV Core Fund III began fundraising in August 2022 and held a first close on $117 million from 74 investors on October 4, 2023, a regulatory filing shows. The firm has not filed an updated Form D for Fund III, but it said in a statement that the fund held a final close on more than $230 million.

"Notable institutional investors include GCM Grosvenor and the Illinois Growth and Innovation Fund, and some of the world's largest strategic partners like AvalonBay, Essent, and leading real estate companies of the world," Moderne said in the statement.

The new fund is the second-largest women-led fund raised this year, according to Venture Capital journal research. (See our exclusive list of more than 200 women-led VC funds.) The year's largest fund so far was raised by Engine Ventures, a multi-stage investor targeting companies across deep tech, healthcare and AI. It closed its third fund at $398 million on June 17, above its target of $350 million.

Overall, 48 women-led funds raised a combined $1.44 billion in the first half of this year, putting them on track to raise close to the $3 billion they raised in 2023 and 2022, as VC previously reported.

Real Estate and more

Moderne backs technology companies in real estate, finance, insurance and sustainability.

The firm is led by Freedman, who is listed in regulatory filings as the "sole member of the general partner" for Fund ITT, with support from partner Liza Benson, who joined Moderne as a venture partner in April 2018 and was promoted to partner in October 2018, according to her LinkedIn profile.

Prior to founding Moderne, Freedman launched and managed Second Century Ventures in partnership with the National Association of Realtors, where she led early investments in and was a board member of companies like DocuSign, Updater and August.

"Moderne's venture platform, immersion program and massive corporate network consistently generate synergistic value for our portfolio companies and industry partners which leads to top-tier returns for our investors," Freedman said in the statement. "MV Core Fund III is an expansion of our existing strategy where we apply decades of vertical specialization experience to curate customers for our companies and advance entire industries, producing outsized returns for our investors."

GCM Grosvenor vice-chairman Derek Jones said of the new fund: "On behalf of our clients, we are thrilled to participate in Moderne's Core Fund III, given the firm's impeccable track record, robust value-add strategy, and strong team. We value the opportunity to back a differentiated manager who brings customers to portfolio companies."

Source: https://www.venturecapitaljournal.com/moderne-ventures-raises-second-largest-women-led-fund-this-year/?utm_source=newsletter-daily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=vcj-daily-bronze&utm_content=17-09-2024