Freeflow Ventures, a Pasadena-based early-stage venture capital firm investing in deep tech, recently announced that it raised $50 million in its latest round of funding.
The closure of this latest funding round brings Freeflow’s total assets under management to $90 million. It previously raised $25 million in its first funding round and another $15 million from Special Purpose Vehicles.
The raise is particularly impressive given the current challenging market for venture capital investment, observed Dean Kim, head of product research at William O’Neil + Co.
“It is pretty noteworthy, because in a high interest rate environment like the one we are seeing right now, the funds available for venture capital and private equity really slow down,” said Kim. “It’s not a huge amount, but relative to the rest of the industry they’re in a very good position.”
Accompanying news of its fund closure, Freeflow announced its most recent investment into the Berkeley-based biotechnology company Catena Bio. According to Freeflow, Catena Bio “is at the forefront of next generation Antibody Drug Conjugate technologys.”
The investment is just the first in a line of planned investments in the Berkeley ecosystem of deep tech start-ups, added Freeflow founder and managing partner David Fleck.
“This new funding enables us to expand our model to Berkeley, an important addition to our operating model because it shares so many similarities to Caltech and (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) where amazing founders working on large-scale solutions to important problems continue to create high quality investment opportunities,” said Fleck in a statement. “These two communities align very nicely with our focused thesis on human and planetary health.”
Fleck noted the investment further builds on the foundation created at Caltech, where Freeflow was founded in 2018 to provide support for startups investing in deep tech innovations and breakthrough sciences.
Kim theorized that Freeflow’s deep connection to CalTech is another likely reason for its recent strong funding raises.
“They’ve effectively got direct access to these start-ups, and for any potential investor that’s very attractive, as it means they’ve got a solid pipeline,” said Kim. “Freeflow is in a very unique position.”
