https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=EV4VlqPOvpA&t=2s Eniac Ventures is announcing the close of a $100 million venture fund, the fourth since the group..<\/b>
Eniac Ventures is announcing the close of a $100 million venture fund, the fourth since the group formed in 2009.
The seed-stage firm plans to use the money to invest in augmented reality, virtual reality, bots, robotics and other software-enabled technologies.
\u201cVR is really a pathway to mixed reality,\u201d said Vic Singh, founding general partner at Eniac. It\u2019s \u201cvery early days and we\u2019ll see how it shakes out, but investing in the tools layer is where we\u2019re focused on.\u201d
The $100 million is the largest fund for Eniac, which closed its previous $55 million fund a little over two years ago. They plan to use the additional capital to lead more rounds and make some follow-on investments.
In a previous study, CB Insights found that Eniac-backed companies get from seed to Series A faster than any other venture firm. Nihal Mehta, founding general partner at Eniac says that they help the startups make it to the next step by acting as unofficial \u201cco-founders\u201d to their investments. \u201cWe do everything that they want us to.\u201d
With the new fund, the team is introducing what they\u2019re calling the Eniac Platform. They plan to help startups with publicity, hiring, operations and other business development services. Some of these offerings are available at Series A funds, but Eniac wants to send the message that they are more hands-on than the typical seed-stage venture firm.
Eniac has had a handful of exits. Recently, Apple acquired the Workflow productivity app. They\u2019ve also sold companies to Twitter, Airbnb, Pinterest, Salesforce and SoundCloud.
Mobile ad startup Vungle and bulk shopping site Boxed are amongst their companies that have gone on to receive later stage investments. Radio app Ancho r and voice synthesizer Dubsmash have received significant fanfare.
The four partners met when they studied engineering together at the University of Pennsylvania. Hadley Harris, Nihal Mehta, Vic Singh and Tim Young are all general partners.
Eniac has offices in San Francisco and New York.<\/p>\n