E14 Fund sparks bid for $80m successor

E14 Fund, the deep tech venture capital firm allied to Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)’s Media Lab, has raised $24.6m for a second fund with an $80m target, according to a regulatory filing.
The firm typically invests between $500,000 and $1m in each portfolio company and participates in early-stage rounds for MIT-allied startups. It has not revealed the identity of the limited partners in the second fund.
Targets areas for E14 involve established deep technologies such as machine learning in areas ranging from logistics to healthcare, in contrast to the demanding science sought by MIT’s The Engine, which announced its own follow-up fund last month.
E14 has concluded investments from its inaugural fund, according to Boston Business Journal, which cited the firm’s co-managing partner Habib Haddad. Its first fund raised $37m from unnamed investors and backed a total of 17 core portfolio companies and 25 “fellow” entrepreneurs linked to MIT.
The firm’s portfolio includes Formlabs, a 3D printing technology spinout with a valuation that surpassed $1bn in August 2018, and Affectiva, a developer of technology that autonomously discerns emotions from human facial expressions.
Haddad told Boston Business Journal: “The pandemic has shown that there is resiliency with companies who have a clear differentiation around the technology and science, but are going towards industries such as logistics, warehouses…and digital health.”