Interstate Fusion Ventures Launches $40M Second Fund

Interstate Fusion Ventures

Interstate Fusion Ventures (fka Akron Fusion Ventures), an Akron, OH-based venture capital firm, plans to raise a $40m second fund.

Led by fund manager Bill Manby, Interstate Fusion Ventures will invest in 40-50 portfolio companies continuing to focus on Northeast Ohio, but with a greater inclusion of companies in Silicon Valley and New York.

As with the first fund, IFV will target companies able to grow substantially toward larger valuations and raise significant follow-on funding.

Beginning in mid-2020, AFV co-invested with M12 (Microsoft Corp.’s venture arm) in a startup named Pod Foods, a grocery-store supply chain that offers a full-service wholesale marketplace connecting retailers with brands that sell.

The first fund also invested in the Seed and Series A round raised by Splash Financial, a Cleveland company that offers a one-stop shop for comparing loan offers.

The first vehicle has invested in 21 companies.

FinSMEs

01/05/2022