Tapestry VC raises $50m to fund early-stage growth companies

Venture capital company Tapestry has raised $50 million (€49.1 million) in new funding to support its early-stage investments and a new growth fund to back technical and repeat founders.

Tapestry, which was started by Web Summit cofounder David Kelly and fund manager Patrick Murphy, said it had raised almost $31 million from 16 investors for start-up funding, with an additional $20 million secured for follow-on rounds. The fund is expected to make investments of up to $1 million in seed and pre-seed rounds, targeting software, fintech and breakthrough technologies.

The company, which counts virtual events company Hopin, grocery delivery company Zapp and tech brand Nothing among its investments, announced the second close of its Fund II, and said it would invest $20 million in its Opportunity Fund for follow-on investment in the companies it has already backed through Amaranthine Fund I and its new early-stage fund.

“The Opportunity Fund really came together over the last six months. Our investors wanted to get more exposure to some of the great companies in our first fund,” said Mr Murphy. “We worked with them to put together this vehicle that will invest in seven to 10 of the top companies that have come out of our first and second funds. We’re excited to deploy that now into a world where that capital will be really well used by a lot of those companies.”

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The company has already made 40 investments in four years, and targets repeat founders who have experience in building a company. Eight of the investments are valued at more than $500 million, and its portfolio has raised more than $2 billion in follow-on funding since 2018.

“We’re really excited by that, I think that’s really good progress for a fund that is this young. I think our investors have been impressed by that, and especially now that we’ve been able to raise this new fund in this time period in the world as well,” Mr Murphy said. “I think it really shows that what we’ve been doing for the last few years our investors really appreciate and company founders really appreciate.”

So far this year it has invested in Jet.com founder Mike Hanrahan’s carbon emissions accounting software company Sustain.Life, modern data stack Mozart Data, and digital health platform Mora.

Among Tapestry’s backers are Molten Ventures and Nextdoor chief executive Sarah Friar. “Tapestry’s performance to date puts them in the top rung of European-focused seed funds,” said Jonathan Sibilia, partner at Molten Ventures. “They have created an incredible portfolio in a short period of time, and we’re excited to continue our partnership.”

Tapestry rebranded from Semble earlier this year in a dispute over rights to the name.

Mr Murphy and Mr Kelly are currently in arbitration in the US with Web Summit cofounder Paddy Cosgrave, through holding company Manders Terrace. The legal row began after Mr Kelly and Mr Murphy announced last year they were branching out into a new $50 million fund independent of Web Summit, which invested $2 million in Amaranthine Fund I. A US judge ruled against Mr Cosgrave in January, compelling him to enter private arbitration in the dispute.