Collide Capital, founded by Brian Hollins and Aaron Samuels, announced Thursday the closing of a $95 million Fund II. Founded in 2021, the company supports early-stage companies in fintech, supply chain and the future of work.
It has backed 75 companies to date after closing its inaugural Fund I of $66 million in 2022. Hollins said it took them about 13 months to raise this latest capital, which they hope to deploy over the next 3.5 years. The landscape for many emerging fund managers is tough, but the Collide Capital team comes with a track record and strong pedigree (Hollins spent a decade at Goldman, Lightspeed and Slow, while Samuels worked at Bain, Lightspeed and co-founded AfroTech, one of the world’s largest tech conferences).
Limited partners (LPs) in Fund II include the University of California Endowment (UC Regents) — which anchored their latest fund — Accolade Partners, Fairview Capital, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan. The average check size will be between $1 million and $3 million, and the team hopes to support at least 30 companies, having already whittled down checks to five. (Other companies in the company’s portfolio include Culina Health and Helios).
“We’re more interested in platforms that enable automation, real-time collaboration and faster data-driven decision-making,” Hollins said.
In addition to technology, Hollins and Samuels said the company is also excited to expand its Collide Campus program, which launched in 2022 to help mentor the next generation of founders and venture capitalists. Expansion is separate from raising capital. The program includes an undergraduate initiative that trains students in VC and entrepreneurship, and a graduate fellowship program that sees students work alongside the Collide team as investors and apprentices.
The undergraduate campus program is on more than 20 campuses, including Harvard and John Hopkins, and Samuels said more than 50 students have gone through the program so far and landed top jobs at places like General Catalysts and, of course, Collide. Overall, the program helps the company deliver deals and talent. Samuels said they started the program as it was something they wished they had had when they were students.
“We connect the best and the brightest with venture capital to match their ability and determination to build businesses the world needs,” he said.
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