Fontinalis Partners (http://www.fontinalis.com), a mobility-focused venture firm with offices in Detroit and Boston, today announces the closing of its $104 million third fund, Fontinalis III.
Fontinalis Partners was founded in 2009 by an experienced team of operators and investors with a thesis that continued advances in technology would usher in immense improvements in the way people and goods move. To date, the Fontinalis team has translated this thesis into more than 50 investments and has achieved approximately 20 exits spanning IPOs, SPAC mergers, and strategic M&A transactions. Examples of notable investments from the firm’s prior two funds include Life360 (IPO), Telogis (acquired by Verizon), Ouster (SPAC merger), Postmates (acquired by Uber), nuTonomy (acquired by Aptiv), Lyft (IPO), and many others. Fontinalis has been active in a wide range of mobility themes, including electric vehicles, supply chain & logistics, additive manufacturing, artificial intelligence, and enterprise SaaS.
“From the very beginning, we built Fontinalis Partners around a mobility thesis that we defined quite broadly—we did this intentionally because identifying emerging themes before they become mainstream requires flexibility,” said Chris Cheever, Founder & Partner of Fontinalis Partners. “What strikes us as we now move into Fontinalis III is that new frontiers in technologies and business models are continuing to stretch the reach of the mobility theme. We are more excited about the next several years of investing than at any point in our firm’s history.”
“As a thematically focused financial investor, we have taken an ecosystem approach to venture investing by surrounding our portfolio companies with relevant networks and resources to help them achieve their bold visions,” added Chris Stallman, Partner of Fontinalis Partners. “This has resonated with mobility founders, and we are excited about the network effects of this approach compounding even further in this new fund.”
Fontinalis III brings the firm’s total committed capital to approximately $270 million, and the fund is comprised of more than 30 limited partners spanning world-class institutional investors, individuals & family offices, and corporate investors with strategic relevance to mobility. In this new fund, the Fontinalis Partners team is primarily focused on investing in early-stage companies, from seed to Series B financings. Fontinalis will continue investing in startups directly impacting the movement of people and goods, as well as “enabling technologies” with outsized impacts in the mobility sector.
About Fontinalis Partners
Fontinalis Partners, with offices in Detroit and Boston, is a venture capital firm strategically focused on next-generation mobility. The firm was founded in 2009 and today manages approximately $270 million of committed capital and an active portfolio of approximately 40 investments. Fontinalis is led by partners Bill Ford, Ralph Booth, Laura Petterle, Chris Cheever, and Chris Stallman. More information is available at http://www.fontinalis.com.
