Poshmark Backer Uncork Raises $300 Million With AI Focus
Uncork Capital, a venture firm whose portfolio includes Poshmark and Fitbit, has raised $300 million.
Company officials told Bloomberg News Thursday (May 1) that the new capital will be used for two funds: one centered on seed investing ($225 million, up from $200 million in a comparable fund in 2023) and another $75 million for the company’s growth fund.
The report notes that artificial intelligence (AI) will be a focus for Uncork Capital, which invests only in companies serving the American market.
“Every company today has to have an AI story,” Managing Partner Andy McLoughlin said.
As covered here in March, excitement for AI has driven American startup investment to a three-year high, though much of this funding has been centered on a few very large private tech companies, including OpenAI and Safe Superintelligence, which was co-founded by OpenAI’s former chief scientist.
A report late last year from HSBC Innovation Banking found that venture capital in the U.S. had moved to AI firms at an “unprecedented” rate, with the scale of capital invested in AI companies by American venture investors approaching that allocated to the rest of the venture market.
According to the bank, 42% of U.S. venture capital was invested into AI companies in 2024, up from 36% in 2023 and 22% the year before that. As of 2024, 20 AI firms had each raised at least $2 billion, the report added.
“Venture capital has always gravitated toward transformative industries, but the level of consolidation we’re seeing within one category is unprecedented,” HSBC U.S. Innovation Banking Head Dave Sabow said in a news release.
The Bloomberg report notes that the last few years have been difficult ones for the venture capital (VC) and startup space, though McLoughlin said these leaner times could help identify weaker players.
“For the companies where it’s not working, we all figure that out sooner,” he told Bloomberg.
McLoughlin said that one of reasons the firm upped the size of its early-stage fund is that investing in fledgling companies has grown more costly, as startups now expect bigger investments.
He added that Uncork isn’t pushing to sell big stakes on the secondaries market, even though initial public offerings have become scarce, partially because “prices are still too low.”
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