Automotive Ventures, the company that supports automotive technology entrepreneurs, businesses, and investors with industry-specific resources, strategic consulting, and extensive connections, has announced the final closing of its inaugural venture fund, Automotive Ventures Fund I.
“Fundraising during a global pandemic had its challenges, but I’m pleased to report that the fund was oversubscribed with more than $7 million in committed capital that we’re eager to deploy into early-stage automotive tech companies,” said Automotive Ventures CEO and Founder Steve Greenfield. “Despite only kicking off the fundraise in the latter half of 2020, the motivation to launch a fund has been building for far longer. We’ve witnessed a shortage of institutional capital for early-stage auto tech companies for decades and believe that we are now uniquely positioned to provide these funds, as well as deep automotive expertise and connections, to early-stage entrepreneurs when they need it most.”
Greenfield says that even though Automotive Ventures officially announced the launch of its fund today, the company has been actively investing since its first close in December 2020 and is honored to name the following companies within its current portfolio: Algodriven, Car Capital, HopDrive, Lender Compliance Technologies, RoboTire, SparkCharge, and WarrCloud.
“It’s an interesting time to be in the automotive space, to say the least,” said Justin Charbonneau, Automotive Ventures Senior Venture Associate. “We believe the industry is at an inflection point and on the cusp of massive change. We are excited and humbled to play a small part to help usher in the next wave of technological innovation in the industry by funding the founders who are building transformational automotive technology companies.”
“We’re proudly located in Atlanta, Georgia and love meeting founders in our backyard,” said Greenfield. “That said, in terms of our investment strategy, we plan to be geographically agnostic and will look at deals worldwide, although we anticipate that most of our investments will be made in U.S.-based companies.”
About Automotive Ventures
Automotive Ventures was founded in 2014 by Steve Greenfield, an industry expert on mergers, acquisitions, strategy, and capital raises.
Created to provide the trusted resource Steve wished he had as an entrepreneur and investor, Automotive Ventures harnesses the knowledge and intuition that comes from Steve’s 20+ years of automotive experience with roles at Manheim, AutoTrader.com, CarLingo, and TrueCar; oversight of more than $1 billion in acquisitions; and negotiation of hundreds of automotive software and data agreements.
Automotive Ventures engages a team of industry experts as employees, advisors, and investors.
About Automotive Ventures Fund I
Automotive Ventures Fund I focuses on areas across automotive – and mobility more broadly – including the digitalization of dealerships, electrification, car connectivity, autonomy, and shared mobility. Additionally, it funds startups with a wide array of different business models, from B2B SaaS and data companies, to marketplaces and even hardware businesses.
Automotive Ventures aims to invest in the very early stages of a company’s journey, most typically in the seed or pre-seed round, but occasionally its first investment may be in the Series A. Automotive Ventures anticipates that it will often be the first “institutional” investor in a startup, with investments alongside angel investors and even “friends and family.”