Tapestry VC Team
Venture capital firm Tapestry VC has raised more than $50 million through two funds to invest in U.S. and European startups.
The San Francisco-based fund, which previously backed Hopin, Zapp and phone maker Nothing, has raised $31 million for its second fund and $20 million for its Opportunity Fund.
Fund II will continue to invest in software-driven startups, just like its predecessor fund, while the Opportunity Fund will support existing portfolio companies as they mature and require additional capital to scale.
Co-founder Patrick Murphy said Tapestry will write checks of $2 million to $5 million as part of a larger funding round with other investors.
“We try to support most repeat founders, so about two-thirds of the people we support have actually done something before,” Murphy said.
“Typically, these people are able to move faster and have insights that we don’t have. [The investments] Covers a lot of areas, but they all focus on software, so whether it’s enterprise software, infrastructure and developer tools, all the way down to fintech, and then we have and do some groundbreaking technology, we know the founders very well, like drones Delivery or 3D printing. “
Tapestry is the new name for the venture capital firm, formerly known as Semble, led by Murphy and co-founder David Kelly. It recently changed its name after cutting ties with the tech conference Web Summit and the Amaranthine VC fund. Kelly and the founders of Web Summit Paddy Cosgrave are Currently involved in legal proceedings.
“Our original fund was related to Web Summit, and we see them as investors. Tapestry is now completely independent of Web Summit. These funds were raised after that relationship ended,” Murphy said.
These latest funds are backed by several investors, he added. Disclosed names include Molten Ventures (former Draper Esprit) and Sarah Friar, CEO of social network Nextdoor.
Tapestry has raised capital at a challenging time for the tech industry, with valuations slashed at tech companies and layoffs to rein in costs.
These include some of Tapestry’s portfolio companies, such as virtual events company Hopin, which laid off 29% of its workforce last month, and grocery delivery startup Zapp.
Some of these companies have experienced high growth and raised significant capital during the Covid-19 pandemic, but are facing new challenges as the economy reopens from lockdown.
“As we start to reopen, [Hopin] Haven’t seen the same level of demand for the product, they needed to restructure some of their products, so, it restructured some of the teams. Hopin may be on one end of the spectrum, but we’ve seen it in our portfolio. People are recalibrating their business plans for a possible impending recession,” Murphy said.
“We think it’s good management and good governance to not spend money when you think there’s not going to be a good return because it doesn’t work out well for the company, their employees or potential stakeholders.”
Despite the deteriorating economic environment, Murphy is based in San Francisco with colleagues in London and Lisbon who will be looking for investments on both sides of the Atlantic.
“I think potential investors see that you have to invest in good times and bad times.”
