Morpheus Ventures Debuts $200 Million Second Fund
Harri is dot.LA's senior finance reporter. She previously worked for Gizmodo, Fast Company, VentureBeat and Flipboard. Find her on Twitter and send tips on L.A. startups and venture capital to harrison@dot.la.
Early-stage venture capital firm Morpheus Ventures finally unveiled its second core fund on Tuesday, disclosing that it has raised $200 million to invest in fintech, insurtech, proptech and robotics startups.
It’s been publicly known that the Sherman Oaks-based VC was looking to raise a $200 million second fund for two-and-half years. It subsequently disclosed in regulatory filings that its first investor check for the fund arrived in July 2019.
The venture firm was co-founded six years ago by Mark Dyne, an early Skype investor and co-founder of OziSoft, the Australian software distributor that was later bought and sold by Sega. Counting earlier funds, Morpheus claims it has secured more than $300 million in capital to date; it said the second fund is backed by an assortment of unnamed limited partners, including endowments, private pensions and family offices.
As well as providing startups with growth support—which venture firms typically advertise—Morpheus’ website says the firm’s “secret sauce” includes crisis management and guidance “through potentially crippling events and complex scenarios.” Such perks may have drawn Jawbone founder Hosain Rahman into Morpheus’ fold; after the Silicon Valley entrepreneur’s gadget-maker crashed and burned in tremendous fashion, he launched a new health care-focused venture, Jawbone Health, with the help of funding from Morpheus, according to Pitchbook data.
The firm’s name was at least partly inspired by the character from “The Matrix.” On the company’s website, blue points you to its Sherman Oaks office and red takes you to its Sydney, Australia location (a reference to the “blue pill/red pill” choice popularized in the Hollywood blockbuster).
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Harri is dot.LA's senior finance reporter. She previously worked for Gizmodo, Fast Company, VentureBeat and Flipboard. Find her on Twitter and send tips on L.A. startups and venture capital to harrison@dot.la.
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