Primary Ventures raises $625 million Fund V to focus on seed investing

Initial projects Closed the fifth fund at $625 million Focused on Nationwide Seed Investing, this is a large fund for a company that focuses solely on early-stage investing. Perhaps it illustrates how the size of early stage rounds has increased dramatically in the age of AI.

Ben Sun, co-founder and general partner at Primary Ventures, told TechCrunch that the average check size for this fund will range from $5 million to $10 million, and he hopes the company will invest in 40 to 50 companies over three years. The fund will also go early in the pre-seed stage, he said.

The fund will also continue to spread its investments across the country. Prime is one of New York’s best-known venture firms, and at one point, most of its investments were in the Big Apple. Sun said the site’s thesis has changed.

The firm, which generally focuses on early-stage investing, has now closed deals in Chicago, Seattle, Virginia and D.C., he said. “Talent, founders and startups are happening everywhere.” “The potential outcomes are much greater than they have ever been.”

He sees seed investing moving towards its own asset class, especially as the quality of talent and startups continues to rise, coupled with the current shift in technology. Companies compete, after all, to find the best deals. “I think (a fund of this size) allows you to come in and compete and bring more resources to the table to work with the best founders and opportunities.”

Sequoia also recently raised a Seed fund of $200 millionAs did Uncork Capital, which announced A $225 million seed boxes Earlier last year.

Although Primary calls itself a public company, Sun said the company has specialists in the sector, each with their own focus. He loves consumer, but also has investors focused on vertical AI, fintech, healthcare, enterprise, cybersecurity, and infrastructure. “We cover probably 80% or 90% of the seed business out there.”

Fund V has already invested in three companies. Primary previously raised US$60 million in Fund One when it launched in 2015, followed by US$100 million in Fund Two and US$150 million in Fund Three.

It raised a $275 million fund and an additional $163 million for the Opportunity Fund. Some of its investments include AI chip company Etched, risk management platform Alloy, women’s networking hub Chief, and AI marketplace Dandelion Health. It has $1.65 billion in assets under management.