Venture Firm Greycroft Raises $680 Million to Invest in Startups

(Bloomberg) -- The venture capital firm Greycroft says it has raised $680 million to find the next Bumble or Venmo, topping its previous $250 million fund raised in 2017 and 2018.

The New York and Los Angeles-based firm, which has backed both of those businesses, plans to invest $310 million in early stage startups and $370 million in growth-stage startups.

Greycroft's portfolio includes Axios Media Inc., mobile games publisher Scopely Inc., scooter rental service Bird Rides Inc. and Gwyneth Paltrow's lifestyle startup Goop Inc. It was also invested in fashion resale business The RealReal Inc., which went public last year.

The venture firm will continue to invest in retail-related businesses, said co-founder and partner Dana Settle. It is also interested in health technology, financial technology and grocery-related businesses.

While Greycroft has previously invested in media assets including Huffington Post, that will be less of a focus going forward, Settle said. The firm will look for businesses with a subscription model, she said. It is less interested in ad-supported startups, many of which have run into challenges.

Settle said she is enthusiastic about the growing number of venture-backed companies going public through deals with special purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs. It could make sense for some startups to pursue this course early, while they are growing fast, she said.

Greycroft acknowledged that it can be expensive to invest in private companies right now, partly because of the strong market values of comparable public technology businesses.

Ian Sigalow, also a Greycroft co-founder and partner, said he was surprised at how quickly the market rebounded after the early days of the Covid-19 crisis. He remains skeptical about how startups are priced, saying that “valuations are really frothy.”

Yet he remains optimistic that Greycroft will find $680 million worth of startup opportunities.

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