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Inspired Capital closes $450M fourth fund, lifting AUM near $1.4B

The New York early-stage firm reaches nearly $1.4B in assets and plans roughly 10 investments a year.

At a glance

  1. Fund sizes have climbed with each vintage: $200 million for the debut, $281 million for the second, $330 million for the third, which closed in early 2024.
  2. Von Tobel said the firm plans to make about 10 investments a year, so at that pace the new fund could deploy up to $150 million a year, covering at least three years.
  3. Twelve companies across the first two funds have become unicorns, about 15% of the portfolio.

Inspired Capital closed its fourth fund at $450 million, the largest of the New York firm's four vehicles and $120 million more than its 2024 predecessor.

Fund sizes have climbed with each vintage: $200 million for the debut, $281 million for the second, $330 million for the third, which closed in early 2024. Alexa von Tobel and Penny Pritzker founded the firm in 2019; Pritzker, a former U.S. Commerce Secretary, remains an active co-founder. The fourth close takes assets under management to nearly $1.4 billion, von Tobel told TechCrunch, which first reported the raise.

Von Tobel said the firm plans to make about 10 investments a year, so at that pace the new fund could deploy up to $150 million a year, covering at least three years. She said checks will range from $1 million to $15 million, with entries from "napkin" stage through Series A. She said the second fund ranks in the top 5% of its cohort by all metrics but declined to share cash-on-cash returns, citing the firm's relative youth.

Twelve companies across the first two funds have become unicorns, about 15% of the portfolio. Ten of those have passed $100 million in revenue, four have crossed $400 million and one has crossed $500 million.

Inspired counts more than 10 exits. Databricks acquired MosaicML for $1.3 billion in June; Snap acquired Saturn last year. Teamshares, a portfolio company that buys up other businesses, went public in June through a special purpose acquisition vehicle.

Reported by the Raises & Launches desk from TechCrunch and PitchBook (via TechCrunch). Published . Corrections

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