J2 Ventures, a Hingham-based venture capital firm that invests in companies solving national security problems, launched its second fund and so far has raised $26.3 million.
The firm disclosed the fundraising from 14 investors for its "J2 Ventures Fund 2 LP," according to a regulatory filing filed last month with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Launched in 2020, the firm counts seven companies in its portfolio and has two full-time employees. Managing partners Alexander Harstrick and Jon Bronson met at Columbia University around 2009, when Harstrick was an undergraduate student and Bronson a Ph.D. student. The duo started J2 Ventures in Massachusetts after Harstrick, a former Army intelligence officer who worked at the Pentagon's Defense Innovation Unit, got his MBA from Harvard University.
Bronson confirmed the accuracy of the document, but declined to share more information on the firm's fundraising plans and its first fund, citing SEC regulations.
J2 Ventures invests in technology with dual use applications, or technology that can be used for the commercial sector as well as for national security work. Areas of interest include artificial intelligence and machine learning, health and readiness, and advanced materials.
"We do not just focus on winning government contracts. We focus on building winning businesses," Harstrick wrote in a follow-up email. "Boston has an incredible confluence of industry, academic and government ties that makes it the ideal ecosystem for this strategy, though our sourcing and portfolio is nation-wide."
One of the local companies that J2 Ventures supported is Woburn-based Phoenix Tailings Inc., which is working on eliminating mining waste. Ōura Health, a maker of a ring-shaped health tracker with locations in Finland and San Francisco, is also listed as part of the firm's portfolio.
Another local venture capital firm that is raising its second fund is Cambridge-based Converge, which focuses on B2B tech entrepreneurs. In a recent filing, the firm disclosed plans to raise $30 million for a new fund named "Converge Fund II, LP."
