Cathay Innovation said Tuesday it has closed its Fund III at $1 billion and will continue to back AI startups in digital health, fintech, consumer technology, mobility and energy. The Paris-based fund is the largest AI-dedicated fund based in the European Union, according to the firm.
The fund — which has invested in 14 startups in Europe, Asia and North America since it was announced in mid-2022 — will continue to back companies at Series A, B and late-stage “applying AI deeply tailored to specific sectors,” the firm said. The fund leads and co-invests in companies and typically writes checks of between $5 million and $100 million.
While venture funds of $1 billion or more were once a rarity, they’ve proliferated in the past decade, Crunchbase data shows.
San Francisco-based Cathay Innovation was launched in 2015 as the venture arm of Paris-based PE firm Cathay Capital. Its investments so far this year include leading the $41 million Series A for Bioptimus, a French biotech startup developing a foundation model for biomedical research, and participating in a $91.8 million round for crypto trading startup Flowdesk.
Other investments from its third fund include:
Nabla, which offers an AI co-pilot for physicians;
AI drug discovery startup Aqemia;
AI-driven wealth management startup Range;
Open banking and payments infrastructure company Ping++;
Ghost, which offers a B2B marketplace for excess inventory;
Reebelo, a marketplace for refurbished tech devices;
Entalpic, which is pursuing foundation model-based materials discovery for low-carbon innovation;
GenAI advertising video creation platform Mogic; and
Beatbot, which makes robotic cleaning systems.
“Regardless of macroeconomic uncertainties, the AI-driven transformation of industries will go on,” Mingpo Cai, founder and chairman of Cathay Capital and Cathay Innovation, said in an announcement about the close of Fund III. “Our mission is to support local champions and create ecosystem synergies that benefit all stakeholders while creating lasting economic and societal impact.”
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Illustration: Dom Guzman
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