Geal Capital Partners announced the end of its second fund on Wednesday, raising $82 million. The fund's limited partners include Citi Impact Fund, M&T Bank, Wells Fargo and Spellman College. Invest in at least 25 early stage companies, write check sizes ranging from $1 million to $2.3 million, with 50% of the fund being reserved for subsequent investments.
Talking to TechCrunch, Fund II said Fund II focused on financial technology, healthcare and future work, as did other funds. It has already invested in at least five companies, including Mattal Health Platform Seven Sterling and FinTech Debbie.
Qadree described Fund II's financial environment as “unquestionably challenging” due to macroeconomic uncertainty, LP rebalancing, and a more stringent allocation window.
“But these headwinds sharpened our strategy and reaffirmed the strength of our approach,” Cudley said. “We are proud that over 80% of our limited partners can share more than 80% from our dedicated funds. We followed Fund II with us, a signal of deep conviction for our ability to consistently support companies that define categories.”
Such black-led established funds have recently been shut down considerably.
Slauson & Co. announced the $100 million Fund II last September, followed by Illumen Capital, founded by Daryn Dodson, and announced $3,275 million in November. This year, Sydney Thomas' Symphonic Capital announced a $13.5 million first fund raise, while Cherry Rock Capital, founded by Stacey Brown Philpott, announced a $172 million Fund I salary increase.
Some of these funds are common in their mission, others are more clear and targeted by undervalued communities, indicating that despite the current pressure from the US presidential administration, and among those who support it, there is still an appetite for such funds.
Overall, Zeal, a more generalist fund founded in 2019, has invested in 40 companies. I announced that it ended in 2021 at $62.1 million.