Before starting SemperVirens in 2018, Robby Peters worked for a consulting firm named Sequoia. In the world of venture capital, the name was, quite famously, already in use, so Peters and his cofounder went with a different name for their new VC firm: the Latin word for sequoia trees.
“Their roots are pretty low, they don’t go long but they hold together,” Peters told me. “It really aligns with our model, which is building big impact, but doing it by creating a real community and ecosystem approach for tying everything together.”
Venture firms are known for their platforms, or helping startups on everything from hiring to public relations to lobbying lawmakers. Peters argued that SemperVirens’ main value add to its portfolio companies is helping them with their go-to-market strategy, or finding customers, with much of the sourcing coming from SemperVirens’ own network of advisors and affiliated companies. That includes 200 senior executives at Fortune 500 companies, as well as a base of strategic investors in the fund itself that include corporate venture firms (new ones for the latest fund are ADP Ventures, MetLife, and Cigna).
SemperVirens focuses broadly on what it describes as “work tech,” which can include anything from healthcare to payroll to insurance (hence the new partners coming on board). Allison Baum Gates, a New York-based general partner at SemperVirens, pointed out that the largest employer in almost every state is a healthcare company, and all need the services that the firm’s other types of companies offer. “We’re excited about where they interact,” she said.
Midi Health, which helps women with insurance-covered care for symptoms of perimenopause and menopause, is one such portfolio company. Midi just closed a $60 million Series B last year led by Laurene Powell Jobs’ Emerson Collective with participation from SemperVirens. Another is Thatch, which helps companies to provide tax-free money to their employees to purchase their own healthcare plans and raised a $38 million Series A last year led by Index Ventures and General Catalyst.
And while other venture firms essentially function as connectors (as well, of course, as helpful sources of capital), SemperVirens insists its unique lane is helping early startups find larger companies that need their services but might not even know they exist. Peters said the first wave of venture decades ago brought money, and the second, more recent wave added operations and talent expansion.
“We really look at [SemperVirens] as almost a VC 3.0 type of a thing,” said Peters. “What if we can really help these companies understand all of the different intricacies and help them drive revenue, but do it in a way that the whole ecosystem is really asking for.”
$141 million of the new fund will go to core investing, which primarily targets seed to Series B, and the remainder will be used as a growth opportunity vehicle to double down on existing portfolio companies or later-stage startups. SemperVirens has already deployed around 30% of the fund, which had its final close in January. This is their third core fund.
Baum Gates said that while they have generated returns for their limited partners from early exits, most of their distributions have come from secondary sales, or selling their existing, private stakes in startups to other investors. “The public markets have changed a lot over the last decade, she said. “You have to be more creative and committed to creating liquidity that doesn’t necessarily rely on the IPO window.”
One more thing…Allie Garfinkle breaks down Google’s record-breaking $32 billion, all-cash acquisition of the cybersecurity startup Wiz, arguing that the deal isn’t a bellwether for the industry so much as an incredibly successful anomaly.
And a Sequoia scoop…Jessica Mathews reports that the venerated VC firm is laying off its Washington, D.C.-based policy team and shuttering its office there, just as other firms double down on their political presence.
Leo Schwartz
X: @leomschwartz
Email: leo.schwartz@fortune.com
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VENTURE DEALS
- Apptronik, an Austin-based robotics company, raised $53 million in funding from Mercedes-Benz, Japan Post Capital, ARK Invest, and others.
- Graphite, a New York City-based AI-powered code review platform for developers, raised $52 million in Series B funding. Accel led the round and was joined by Menlo Ventures and Anthropic’s Anthology Fund and existing investors Andreessen Horowitz and The General Partnership.
- Halliday, a San Francisco-based workflow automation services provider for financial institutions, raised $20 million in Series A funding. Andreessen Horowitz led the round and was joined Avalanche Blizzard Fund, Credibly Neutral, and Alt Layer.
- Utila, a New York City-based digital assets management platform, raised $18 million in Series A funding. Nyca Partners led the round and was joined by Wing VC, NFX, Haymaker Ventures, and others.
- Gradial, a Seattle-based AI-powered enterprise marketing operations company, raised $13 million in Series A funding. Madrona led the round and was joined by Pruven Capital, General Advance, Outsiders Fund, and DLA Piper.
- VulnCheck, a Lexington, Mass.-based cybersecurity company, raised $12 million in Series A funding. Ten Eleven Ventures led the round and was joined by existing investors Sorenson Capital, In-Q-Tel, and others.
- PULSETRAIN, a Munich-based electric vehicle battery management solutions developer, raised €6.1 million ($6.7 million) in seed funding. Vsquared Ventures and Planet A led the round and was joined by Climate Club.
- Orion Security, a Tel Aviv-based AI-powered data protection services provider, raised $6 million in seed funding. Pico Partners and FXP led the round and were joined by Underscore VC and others.
- SpangleAI, a Seattle-based AI-powered e-commerce platform developer for retailers, raised $6 million in seed funding from Madrona Ventures and Streamlined Ventures.
- Stable Sea, a San Francisco-based stablecoin offramping platform, raised $3.5 million in funding. Kindred Ventures led the round and was joined by Ludlow Ventures, DFS Lab, The Venture Dept., and The Fintech Fund.
PRIVATE EQUITY
- General Atlantic, joined by Lead Edge Capital and StepStone, agreed to acquire a minority stake in Nerdio, a Chicago-based cloud management solutions provider for businesses, for $500 million.
- Cordillera Investment Partners invested $10 million in the Professional Triathletes Organisation, a London-based athlete-owned sports body.
- JSI, a portfolio company of Stone-Goff Partners, acquired LogicomUSA, a Huntsville, Ala.-based voice, network, compliance, and 24/7 contact center services provider for communication providers. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- Serent Capital acquired a minority stake in Casino Cash Trac, a Tulsa-based revenue audit automation solutions provider for casinos. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- Sixth Street acquired a roughly 10% stake in the San Francisco Giants, a San Francisco-based Major League Baseball team. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- Wealth Partners Capital Group, backed by HGGC, and HGGC acquired a minority stake in MCF Advisors, a Lexington, Ky.-based investment management firm. Financial terms were not disclosed.
EXITS
- E3Tech acquired Sylvan, a Southfield, Mich.-based multi-trade commercial and industrial solutions provider, from Blue Point Capital Partners. Financial terms were not disclosed.
OTHER
- Google agreed to acquire Wiz, New York City-based cloud security platform, for $32 billion in cash.
FUNDS + FUNDS OF FUNDS
- New State Capital Partners, a New Rochelle, N.Y.-based private equity firm, raised $700 million for its fourth fund focused on services-based businesses
- Sofinnova Partners, a Paris-based venture capital firm, raised €165 million ($180.2 million) for its second fund focused on biotechnology.
PEOPLE
- StepStone, a New York City-based private markets investment firm, promoted Anthony Giambrone, Laia Massague, Pooja Patel, Tim Rees, Anja Ritchie, and Stephen West to partner and Alec Darbyshire, Colin Donnelly, Sean Doyle, JD Hall, Nichole Kim, Daniel Krikorian, Gray Layden, Richard Lowe, Akhilan Nesaratnam, Jared Root, and Jonathan True to managing director.
