Loup Ventures, a one-year-old venture capital firm backing virtual reality, augmented reality, artificial intelligence and robotics startups, has raised $25 million for its debut fund.
In a newsletter earlier this week, the firm announced that it had closed its Loup Ventures Fund I at $25 million in late December. The size of the the multi-stage fund is $5 million above what founders said they were aiming for when it opened mid-2017.
Since launch, Loup Ventures has backed a half-dozen startups creating things like brain controlled software and virtual reality house tours. One of the companies, Real Vision, has an office in Minneapolis, but none of the companies currently in Loup's portfolio are headquartered in Minnesota.
Loup Ventures was established in early 2017 by former Piper Jaffray analysts Doug Clinton, Andrew Murphy and Gene Munster, who is best known for his coverage of Apple. The firm aims to distinguish itself from other VCs partially by emphasizing its research background. Loup Ventures has offices in Minneapolis and New York City.
"While we're appreciative of the congratulations we've gotten on raising the fund, that's only the first step for us," The firm said in its email. "Success for us isn't raising money or even an exit in our portfolio, it's building a team that consistently backs transformative frontier technology companies to generate great returns for our LPs."
