Venture capital firm made an early commitment to mobility, transportation and energy
Global venture capital firm Maniv, based in Tel Aviv and NYC, is advancing solutions to climate change via its recently announced early-stage venture fund of $140 million. The firm’s third fund will support Seed and Series A stage startups focusing on decarbonization and digitalization of global transportation.
“Our third fund builds on two decades in the trenches of the global mobility ecosystem,” said Michael Granoff, the firm’s Managing Partner. “Maniv has built a platform to summon the best of two worlds – the agility of a traditional VC, and close proximity to the underlying industries surrounding mobility and transportation.”
Maniv touts its track record as one of the first institutional investors to establish a global, early-stage investment strategy on the intersection between mobility, transportation, and energy. It makes investments in companies with deep technologies and business model innovations in target industries around two central themes:
The first theme focuses on startups that drive the digitization of transportation’s value chains across land, sea, and air—moving from analog processes and data-poor operating environments. Areas impacted include manufacturing to fulfillment and logistics, vehicle access, maintenance and repair, insurance, fleet management, and more.
The second theme is the tipping point occurring in the market-driven decarbonization of transportation due to private sector incentives. According to Maniv, the changes underway are presenting an enormous opportunity for startups to advance new technologies, form factors, business models, and platforms.
Fund’s first four investments in early-stage Startups
Chicago-based Celadyne extends the lifespan and efficiency of proton-exchange membranes to make green hydrogen production financially viable.
Israel-based Neologic introduces a proprietary chip design for dramatic performance and power gains in data centers, automotive and beyond.
San Francisco-based Circular, based mainstreams post-consumer recycled plastics adoption in manufacturing, by closing pervasive information and testing gaps.
São Paulo-based Vammo, is electrifying LATAM’s B2B two-wheeler market, by orchestrating electric vehicles, financing, and a ubiquitous battery swapping network.
The current fund has the backing of institutional capital, high-net-worth individuals, and a group of industry leaders in the transportation sector. It was built off prior funds backed by leading carmakers and Tier-1 suppliers and now includes critical automotive industry adjacencies of partners. Included are global vehicle leasing and mobility solutions leader Arval and the automotive finance experts of BNP Paribas Personal Finance of Europe’s leading bank BNP Paribas; Shell Ventures of the global energy giant Shell and others.
With the launch of Maniv’s third early-stage Fund, the venture capital firm now has $320 million assets under management.
