Space rockets. Zero-emissions steelmaking. Nuclear fusion. They’re not exactly the stuff of value-stock investments. They are, however, exactly what a venture capital fund affiliated with Fidelity Investments parent FMR LLC is looking for.
In recent months, Fine Structure Ventures, as the fund is known, has made a number of splashy investments in early-stage startups pursuing “disruptive science.” Forget the next hip social-media app — some of these businesses are after potentially world-changing technological breakthroughs.
Fine Structure took part in two rounds this week. It participated in a $22.6 million Series A financing from San Diego’s Debut Biotech, a cell-free biomanufacturing platform. The investment is Fine Structure’s first in synthetic biology. It also took part in a $5 million seed round from San Francisco’s Nitricity, which seeks to provide farmers with renewable nitrogen fertilizer they can produce on-site, using only air, water and electricity.
In June, Fine Structure led a $46 million Series C round in the Australian rocket startup Gilmour Space Technologies, which makes smaller-than-usual rockets with a goal of providing cost-effective launches for commercial clients.
Fidelity’s parent has been ramping up the Fine Structure team for the past 18 months or so. Jennifer Uhrig, a longtime Fidelity employee, has been working on the initiative since late 2019 and is listed as a senior managing director, according to her LinkedIn profile. Last year, the firm brought on Shyam Kamadolli, a Boston venture capitalist who has worked with firms like Pillar VC and Applied Crypto Ventures, to serve as managing director. It brought on a couple of senior associates in early 2021, according to LinkedIn. Fidelity's Brett Rome is also working with the team, according to a recent post.
The fund has flown under the radar. Kamadolli was not immediately available for an interview, and a Fidelity spokesman declined to comment for this story.
Fine Structure has at least two local investments under its umbrella. Both were initially made under the aegis of Devonshire Investors, FMR’s private investment arm. Fine Structure is a newer moniker; FMR applied for a trademark for the name in March.
It’s invested in Commonwealth Fusion Systems, a Cambridge-based startup founded by MIT scientists seeking to bring fusion energy, that long-elusive pursuit of 20th- and 21st-century science, into reality. It also co-led a $50 million Series B round for Boston Metal, which is developing technology to decarbonize steelmaking.
