New York’s A-list venture capital seed fund, Lerer Hippeau, announced on Wednesday that it closed a ninth $200 million fund. That’s a step up from its eighth fund, which closed at $140 million, it said. With the new fund, Lerer Hippeau has $1.4 billion of assets under management.
Since its inception in 2010, Lerer Hippeau has backed a string of well-known startups that went public or were acquired, many of them from New York. The list includes Allbirds, Axios, Birchbox, Brit + Co, Casper, Namely, Zipline, and Warby Parker, it says.
The firm has also become a family affair, with Andrea Hippeau working as a partner — she’s the daughter of co-founder and managing partner, Eric Hippeau. The firm’s managing partner, Ben Lerer, is son to co-founder (now managing partner emeritus) Ken Lerer.
Earlier this year, New York powerhouse VC Insight Partners raised a fresh $12.5 billion, too. In August 2024, Thrive Capital raised $5 billion. While these firms don’t limit themselves to the New York ecosystem (they all back Silicon Valley companies, and those located elsewhere, too), their deep pockets certainly bolster the New York ecosystem.
