A Chicago venture capital firm that invests in real estate-related startups just raised its third fund to back more tech firms.
Moderne Ventures announced Monday that it has secured $230 million for its third fund, bringing its total assets under management to more than $500 million.
The fund has received investment from institutional investors including GCM Grosvenor and the Illinois Growth and Innovation Fund and other strategic partners like AvalonBay and Essent.
Led by Constance Freedman and Liza Benson, Moderne has made more than 35 investments and backed more than 150 companies with a focus on real estate finance, insurance and home-services startups.
Freedman founded Moderne in 2015 after launching her first VC fund back in 2008 with early investments including in DocuSign. Notable investments by Moderne include Icon, Caribou, Proof, Measurabl, Xeal and Qloo.
Moderne Ventures raised $200 million for its second fund in 2021.
Freedman said in a statement that the newest fund is an expansion of the fund's existing strategy to de-risk venture and produce outsized returns for its investors.
Moderne invests in tech companies with $2 million to $20 million in revenue.
Moderne additionally plans to raise a growth fund this year that it says will help the firm "double down" on its highest growth portfolio companies and bring additional high-performing later-stage companies onto its platform.
Moderne also operates an accelerator program — Moderne Passport — where it connects companies to industry experts and other corporate partners. The highly selective program accepts less than 1% of companies that apply. The Moderne Ventures 2024 spring Passport class includes companies from seed stage to Series C and have raised more than $678 million total funding.
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