US-based venture capital fund Renaissance Venture Capital has raised $79m for its second fund, with support from a range of corporate limited partners.
The final investment in the fund consisted of $14m jointly provided by home appliance manufacturer Whirlpool Corp, engineering firm Roush Industries and Michigan State University, which invested through the MSU Foundation.
Other LPs for the fund included utilities CMS Energy and DTE Energy, healthcare insurer Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, car maker Ford Motor Company, retail chain Meijer, footwear manufacturer Wolverine World Wide, the Michigan Employees’ Retirement System, the Kellogg Foundation, and the Dow Foundation, respective subsidiaries of chemical producer Dow and food producer Kellogg.
The fund was originally closed at $60m in 2012, adding to Renaisance’s $45m first fund, but was reopened briefly and quietly to add MSU Foundation, Whirlpool and Roush, according to Renaissance CEO Chris Rizik.
Renaissance will invest the $79m as a fund of funds, and the cash is already half committed. The fund’s latest investment comprised $5m in funding for VC firm Flagship Ventures, and Renaissance is also working with other VCs to provide investment capital for a Detroit-based Techstars incubator programme.
– A version of this article was originally published on our sister site, Global University Venturing.