Lux Capital Lands $1.5B for Its Largest Fund Ever
Lux Capital has raised $1.5 billion for its ninth fund, the largest in the venture firm’s more than two-decade history, as it doubles down on investments at the intersection of advanced science, technology and national security.
The oversubscribed fund was assembled amid growing interest from governments and industry in areas such as defence, artificial intelligence, quantum computing and energy.
The new vehicle will focus on what Lux describes as “frontier technology”: companies pursuing breakthroughs across the physical, computational and life sciences.
The firm plans to continue backing startups from the earliest stages through to later growth, with cheque sizes ranging from around $100,000 to $100 million.
Founded in 2000 by Josh WolfeDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Robert PaullDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and Peter HebertDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → Lux Capital has built a reputation for investing early in technically ambitious companies that sit outside traditional consumer or software venture categories.
Its portfolio includes businesses working in defence and aerospace, autonomy and robotics, space infrastructure, biology and advanced manufacturing.
Several of its more prominent investments, such as AndurilDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Astranis and Saildrone, have secured government contracts, positioning them to benefit from increased public-sector spending and procurement reforms.
Lux said demand for the fund exceeded its target, with the firm turning away a significant amount of capital. The latest raise reflects both investor appetite for exposure to hard science and defence-related technologies and Lux’s long-standing strategy of backing companies whose development cycles are longer but whose potential impact is structural.
With the new fund, the firm intends to increase the pace of investment while continuing to support its strongest portfolio companies through successive stages of growth, as geopolitical concerns and technological competition place frontier innovation closer to the centre of industrial and national policy.
Sources:
Lux Capital
The Wall Street Journal
Bloomberg
TechCrunch
Tech Funding News
J.V.
