Anzu calls investors for $190m fund

Venture capital and private equity firm Anzu Partners has raised a $190m fund to back academic spinouts and other businesses in the industrial sector.
The amount represents the final close of Anzu’s second fund, Anzu Industrial Capital Partners II, with limited partners encompassing unnamed, US-based institutional, individual and family investors.
Founded in 2014, Anzu Partners focuses on early-stage startups in the US and Canada, targeting industrial spaces such as manufacturing, materials, monitoring and modelling. The firm typically invests $3m to $6m per transaction.
Among the institutions prioritised for its new fund are Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University, David Michael, managing partner at Anzu Partners, told deals database PitchBook.
Michael added in a press release: “We have a relentless focus on the breakthrough technologies that will enable tomorrow’s industries.
“Within this theme we continue to see a strong pipeline of investment opportunities, and we aim to be the investor of choice for the best early-stage companies in these areas.”
Anzu Industrial Capital Partners II has already finalised seven deals, including an investment in Stanford-founded genomic sequencing technology developer Bioskryb, which disclosed its $11.5m seed round earlier this month.
The other portfolio companies are MIT-founded surface measurement system business GelSight, blood sample kit manufacturer Boston Microfluidics, biologics production company NTX Bio, regenerative medicine developer Sofregen and digital display manufacturer Solchroma Technologies.
Anzu’s inaugural vehicle also focused on industrial technologies, having closed in late 2017 with $128m from undisclosed investors.