A Chicago venture capital firm that invests in real estate-related startups just raised its second fund to back more tech firms.
Moderne Ventures announced Tuesday that it has secured $200 million for its second fund, bringing the VC firm's total assets under management to around $350 million.
Led by Constance Freedman and Liza Benson, Moderne invests in real estate, finance, insurance and home services startups. Freedman launched her first VC fund back in 2008, and her early investments include DocuSign, which went public in 2018. Freedman then founded Moderne in 2015, and has since backed a range of high-profile real estate upstarts like 3D-printing home startup ICON, Homesnap, which was acquired by Costar for $250 million, and Porch, which went public in 2020.
In total, Moderne says it has invested in more than 100 companies, and its portfolio includes five unicorns and three companies that have gone public.
Moderne also operates an accelerator program called Moderne Passport, where it helps connect firms to industry experts and other corporate partners.
Moderne is the latest Chicago venture firm to reload with a new fund in recent months, with more than a dozen new Chicago-based VC funds announced in 2021, collectively raising more than $4.7 billion.
