Venture capital firm Homebrew is in the process of targeting $50 million for a new fund, as revealed by a recent filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Shifting Strategy
The decision to raise a new fund comes as a surprise given Homebrew’s announcement nearly two years ago that it was transitioning to a more stage-agnostic evergreen model, funded solely by its general partners, Satya Patel and Hunter Walk. However, it’s common for venture capital firms to raise multiple funds concurrently to capitalize on specific investment opportunities. Some firms, particularly those focused on early-stage investments, may also raise additional opportunity-focused funds to complement their primary vehicle.
Strategic Investments
While Homebrew has historically concentrated on seed-stage investments, it has diversified its portfolio with approximately 200 investments since its establishment in 2013, as reported by Crunchbase. The firm has backed notable startups such as Winnie, Finix, Concentric AI, Mercury, and Plaid, and has seen successful exits with companies like Cruise, Weave, and Cheddar.
Recent Activity
In its most recent investment activity, Homebrew led a $12 million Series A round in Slang.ai, a platform offering automated phone answering services for restaurants, retailers, and other brick-and-mortar businesses.
Evolving Structure
Homebrew had previously announced in March 2022 that it would adopt an open-ended fund structure with no fixed termination date, reflecting its commitment to long-term investments and ongoing support for portfolio companies.
TechCrunch reached out to Hunter Walk for further comment on the new fund filing, but he declined to provide additional information at this time. However, an anonymous source disclosed to TechCrunch that Homebrew has been utilizing Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) for pro-rata investments in select follow-on opportunities, but is now seeking to establish a dedicated fund for this purpose.
