US-based venture capital firm Calibrate Ventures raised approximately $80m for its debut fund on Tuesday, including a commitment from Shea Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of property developer JF Shea.
Kevin Dunlap and Jason Schoettler, both former managing directors at Shea Ventures, founded Calibrate in 2017 to invest in software and hardware startups in the consumer and enterprise sectors. VC firm Foundry Group is also among the fund’s limited partners.
The US-focused fund plans to take part in 15 deals, investing between $3m and $6m a time in businesses generating revenue between $1m and $5m, typically providing about $5m as a first investment.
Calibrate will look to companies raising series A rounds sized between $10m and $20m, Dunlap said in an interview with TechCrunch.
The fund’s portfolio already consists of five companies including data management platform Alpha, business communication provider Broadly and robot developers Built Robotics, Embodied and Soft Robotics.
Prior to forming Calibrate, Schoettler and Dunlap served as managing directors at Shea Ventures for 14 and approximately 13 years respectively, focusing on early and growth-stage companies.
Schoettler said: “At Calibrate, we have built an influential network of entrepreneurs and partners, bring a unique approach to identifying attractive investment opportunities and strive to apply our rigorous process and values to each company we support.
“This is a formula that has proven itself to be successful throughout the fourteen years Kevin and I have been investing together as partners, and we look forward to leveraging our significant investing experience and differentiated approach to catalyse growth for our portfolio companies.”