Top 10 VC Funds in Connecticut
The startup scenery of Connecticut is booming. The state has lots of new and cool companies that are changing different industries. But to make these companies successful, there are smart investors and VCs who provide them with money and advice. In this blog, we'll talk about Connecticut's top 10 VC Funds that are helping the state's economy grow and making entrepreneurs' dreams come true. Here’s the list:
1. Connecticut Innovations, Incorporated
Connecticut Innovations (CI) serves as the state's primary venture capital entity, championing innovative and expanding businesses. Specializing in equity investments, CI provides pivotal support by offering strategic counsel and facilitating connections with valuable partners. Through this multifaceted approach, CI empowers promising enterprises, ensuring their sustained growth and success.
Website: ctinnovations.com
Founding Year: 1989
Investment Range: $500K - $1M/ Round
Stage: Pre-seed, Seed, and Early-stage (Series A)
Sector: Primarily invests in hardware, healthcare devices, technology, life science, and pharmaceutical
Investment Geography: Connecticut, United States
Notable Investments: Rallybio, New Haven ($2.6 million)
LogicSource, South Norwalk ($2.5 million)
American Customer Care, Bristol ($1.5 million)
Biowave Corp., Norwalk ($1.5 million)
Covr Financial Technologies, Hartford ($1.5 million)
Submit Pitch/ Contact: info@ctinnovations.com
2. Activant Capital
Activant, a global investment firm founded in 2015, partners with high-growth companies worldwide. With offices in Greenwich, New York, Berlin, and Cape Town, Activant has raised over $1 billion across four funds. Specializing in technology companies, they focus on commerce, supply chain, fintech, and workflow & automation. Activant invests in companies poised for industry transformation, providing support in hiring, culture, and access to capital. Their funds, ranging from $75 million to $395 million, are backed by North American and European charitable foundations, hospital systems, endowments, and family offices, allowing them to invest in exceptional founders and teams.
Website: activantcapital.com
Founding Year: 2015
Investment Range: $20M - $40M
Stage: Series B, Series C, and Series D
Sector: They focus on technology companies in commerce and retail infrastructure, and have expanded into logistics, fintech, and workflow & automation technologies
Investment Geography: Global
Notable Investments: Indigo, Better Mortgage, Celonis, 98point6, Benson Hill, Turvo
Submit Pitch/ Contact: Link
3. Altus Capital Partners
Altus Capital Partners is a private equity firm. They mainly focus on investing in small to medium-sized manufacturing businesses. By concentrating on this industry, they really get to know the ups and downs of it. Altus is patient and careful with their investments. They work closely with the managers of the businesses they invest in to help them grow. Altus looks for main investments and additional ones, takes care of all the necessary checks, sorts out the money side of things, looks at proposals, does research on the industry, puts together deals, carries out plans for the business, and looks for opportunities to sell the companies they invest in.
Website: altuscapitalpartners.com
Founding Year: 2003
Investment Range: $1M - $5M
Stage: Growth
Sector: Business Products, Business Services, Consumer Products, Consumer Services, Energy, Healthcare, Infrastructure, Manufacturing
Investment Geography: North America
Notable Investments: Versantis, Thermafiber, Pinnacle X-Ray Solutions, Winsert, LLC, Alpha Precision Group, LLC57
Submit Pitch/ Contact: Link
4. Canaan
Canaan is a dynamic venture capital firm. It backs visionary entrepreneurs in their early stages. With a diverse fund and a track record of 200+ successful exits, Canaan has been an valuable force in shaping global technology and healthcare landscapes for over 33 years. Specializing in Consumer Tech, Enterprise, Fintech, Frontier Tech, and Life Sciences, Canaan continues to drive innovation and success in the startup ecosystem.
Website: canaan.com
Founding Year: 1987
Investment Range: $250K - $2M
Stage: Early
Sector: Technology, Healthcare
Investment Geography: USA, Israel
Notable Investments: Ebates, Instacart, LendingClub, The RealReal, Turo, Zoosk
Submit Pitch/ Contact: Link
5. Citi Ventures
Citi Ventures explores the unknown in a changing world, investing in startups and collaborating to innovate. They invest into new businesses and work together to come up with new ideas. They look at tech and money trends from an outsider's point of view and try them out to solve problems. They mainly focus on trying and improving answers for customers, helping them grow by teaming up with really advanced companies that are changing the way money works. Citi Ventures does its part to make good things happen in the changing world.
Website: citi.com/ventures
Founding Year: 2008
Investment Range: $1M - $20M (Typically $5M)
Stage: Seed, Early, Later
Sector: Fintech, Security & Enterprise IT, Marketing, Property Technology, Data Analytics & Machine Learning
Investment Geography: United States and the Americas
Notable Investments: Plaid, Jet, Cylance, Square, Honey, DocuSign
Submit Pitch/ Contact: Link
6. Great Rock Capital
Great Rock Capital Partners gives customized money solutions for medium-sized businesses in different fields. They can offer loans from $15 million to $100 million, and what makes them good is how flexible and quick they are. The team knows their stuff and has leaders from big financial companies, guaranteeing creative money solutions. With strong support from partners, including private equity and institutional investors, Great Rock Capital is a top pick for companies that need fast and flexible capital for growth.
Website: greatrockcapital.com
Founding Year: 2015
Investment Range: $10M - $75M+
Stage: Middle-market
Sector: Commercial & Industrial, Manufacturing, Metals, Consumer Products, Transportation, Healthcare, and Technology
Investment Geography: North America
Notable Investments: Madison-Kipp, HOP Energy
Submit Pitch/ Contact: Link
7. L Catterton
L Catterton is a leading consumer-focused private equity group. It has built brand equity since 1989. With around $34 billion in assets, it's the world's largest consumer-centric private equity firm. Focused on iconic brands, L Catterton adapts to trends and invests in emotionally connected consumer businesses. Operating globally with 17 locations, they've made 250+ investments, backed by a team of 150+ professionals.
Website: lcatterton.com
Founding Year: 1989
Investment Range: $10M - $125M
Stage: Early, Private Equity
Sector: Consumer Services, Pet, Personal Fitness, Consumer Technology, Consumer Health, Fashion, Luxury, Beauty
Investment Geography: Global
Notable Investments: Birkenstock, Indian tech giant Jio Platform, Ainsworth Pet Nutrition, Peloton, Nature’s Variety, Pinarello, Freetrade, the Miami Design District
Submit Pitch/ Contact: Link
8. Longitude Capital
Longitude Capital invests in growing businesses, especially in biotech, medtech, and health solutions. They've raised almost $2 billion since 2006 and put money into both private and public companies. Their plan is to have a mix of investments for good returns in three to five years. They use their big industry network and research to decide where to invest. After investing, Longitude Capital works closely with the companies they've invested in to help them reach their goals and make sure the returns are good for everyone involved.
Website: longitudecapital.com
Founding Year: 2006
Investment Range: $10M - $50M
Stage: Privately Held, Publicly Traded Companies
Sector: Biotechnology, Medical Technology, Health Solutions
Investment Geography: Located in North America, specifically in the United States. They operate from their offices in Menlo Park, California, Greenwich, Connecticut, and Boston, Massachusetts
Notable Investments: CG Oncology, Esperion, and Axonics Modulation Technologies
Submit Pitch/ Contact: Link
9. Oak investment Partners
Oak is a venture capital firm specializing in high-growth opportunities across IT, Internet, Consumer, FinTech, Healthcare, and Clean Energy. With a $9 billion investment in 525 global companies since 1978, Oak provides steady guidance and growth support. Their success is seen in innovation, building lasting relationships, and delivering consistent performance over four decades.
Website: oakvc.com
Founding Year: 1978
Investment Range: $9B (Fund Size)
Stage: Multi
Sector: Information Technology, Internet and Consumer, Financial Services Technology, Healthcare Information and Services, Clean Energy
Investment Geography: The firm primarily invests in the United States with selected investments in Europe, Israel, India, South Korea, and China
Submit Pitch/ Contact: Link
10. Vertex Ventures
Vertex Ventures is a venture capital firm. It empathizes with entrepreneurs as experienced founders and operators themselves. Specializing in early-stage investments, they collaborate with founders constructing infrastructure and SaaS companies.
Website: vvus.com
Founding Year: 1988
Investment Range: $500K - $1M
Stage: Early
Sector: Software Infrastructure, Developer Tools, Data, Security, Vertical SaaS
Investment Geography: U.S., China, Israel, India, Southeast Asia
Notable Investments: CyberArk Software, SES, Dynamic Yield
Submit Pitch/ Contact: Link
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
Is Shark Tank a VC firm?
A: No, SharkTank is similar to Angel Investing, where rich individuals invest small amounts of money from their own savings into new businesses.
Venture Capital is different. It"s when a group of professional investors, called Venture Capitalists, gather money from big investors and wealthy individuals (known as Limited Partners). Then, they invest larger sums into more established startups.
Q: What is the largest VC fund in the US?
A: The largest VC firm in the United States is Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), with assets under management totaling $35 billion. They"re in California and started in 2009. They put money into different kinds of companies, like tech and healthcare. Some famous companies they"ve invested in are Facebook and Airbnb.
Q: Do VC firms pay well?
A: Venture capital usually pays better than corporate development but not as much as private equity and hedge funds. At big VC firms, associates without an MBA can make $150K to $200K, while those with an MBA might rake in $200K to $250K. You might also ask, "Do startups pay well?" Here"s your answer.
Q: How many VC firms fail?
A: According to experts at The National Venture Capital Association, they believe that around 25% to 30% of startups supported by VC funding end up failing.
Best of luck with your amazing ventures.
Please note that this list is filtered by various metrics, and all the data are collected through various third-party websites, mostly the VC website. Since data such as ticket size or industry may change, you are requested to visit the official website given in the blog for the latest and updated information.
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