US-based venture capital firm Valo Ventures has reached a $175m final close for its debut fund, securing capital from limited partners including electricity producer Fortum, TechCrunch has reported.
The Finland-based corporate agreed in December 2018 to commit $170m to Valo Ventures, which was founded by Scott Tierney, a co-founder of CapitalG, the corporate VC subsidiary of internet and technology conglomerate Alphabet formerly known as Google Capital.
Founded in 2018, Valo Ventures is focused on investing in early and growth-stage technology startups that could bring about long-term social, economic and environmental benefits.
The firm will target North America and Europe-situated companies tackling global trends, such as empowered consumers, autonomy and mobility, urbanisation, climate change and the circular economy.
Valo Ventures took part in a $13m series A round for Landit, the US-based operator of a career development platform aimed at women and diverse groups, in February 2019.
Other members of the firm’s portfolio are weather data platform developer PlanetIQ, business management software provider Atollogy and a stealth-stage company working on an artificial intelligence-based platform for electricity demand and supply forecasting.