Construct Capital – an early-stage venture capital firm backing entrepreneurs transforming Foundational Industries through technology – announced the closing of its $300 million Fund III. And with this new fund, the firm will continue its focus on revitalizing sectors — including manufacturing, logistics and transportation, defense, and energy — that have been neglected and underfunded for decades.
Launched in 2020 by Co-founders and General Partners Dayna Grayson and Rachel Holt, Construct is executing on a concentrated strategy to invest in startups that leverage technologies such as robotics, AI, and automation to reshape Foundational Industries essential to the U.S. economy, producing the goods and services that keep society safe and productive. And the firm now has $750 million AUM, with 42 investments across the first two funds.
With Fund III, Grayson (formerly a partner at New Enterprise Associates, and Holt, previously an early employee and senior executive at Uber) will continue to address the significant underinvestment in these sectors from venture capitalists, corporations, and governments, to eliminate industrial stagnation and inefficiency.
Early evidence has shown companies in the Foundational Industries drive strong new market opportunities and value creation in the public markets. Tech-first Industrials are growing at 19% — faster than other Industrials (4%) and Big Tech (11%). And with a typical check size of $2 million to $10 million for Seed to Series A companies, the Construct team aims to invest in around two dozen companies with this latest fundraise. The firm calls their “boutique yet commercial” strategy a model that traditionally drives strong multiples of fund returns.
Construct’s new fund was oversubscribed and attracted a strong institutional base of LPs. And with Fund III, they grew the subscription from endowments and foundations to be a large majority of the fund, with the remainder coming from large family offices and fund of funds.
The firm’s portfolio includes standout companies leveraging AI and software-defined systems that will streamline and enhance operations like
- Veho – Innovating the logistics space with technology-driven solutions for last-mile delivery for e-commerce, enhancing efficiency and reliability
- Hadrian – A leader in software-defined manufacturing, automating, and streamlining production for precision machined parts
- Copia Automation – A modern software developer operations platform for the industrial world
- Kinetic – Automating digital automotive repair, such as ADAS calibration, needed to keep vehicles working correctly
- Chef Robotics – An AI and robotics automation system for the food industry
- Vammo – Electrifying Latin America’s $100B motorcycle market with battery swapping
KEY QUOTES:
“Foundational Industries are a once-in-a-generation investment opportunity because technologies of the last 25 years — let alone the most recent advances in agentic AI, world foundation models, and beyond — have not been applied to these spaces. Now is the moment to apply these technologies to the massive sectors that have missed the benefits of modern technology.”
- Rachel Holt
“We are grateful to the LPs who have continued to back us and the new, incredible quality partners who find our vision and mission compelling. We have been operating and investing in these areas for more than a decade and anticipated the opportunities for technology to transform the most important yet neglected sectors of our economy long before they became mainstream. The founders we back will lay the groundwork for a new era of economic resilience.”
- Dayna Grayson
