Ludlow Ventures, a Detroit, Michigan-based venture capital firm, has raised $45 million for its third fund. Ludlow Ventures founder and managing partner Jonathon Triest told TechCrunch that the firm was set out to raise another $45 million and were immediately oversubscribed.
Triest and Ludlow’s two other partners Brett deMarrais and Blake Robbins have worked on deals all over the country. Some of the companies Ludlow invested in include Honey, Wag!, Tally, Lumi, Dwolla, Product Hunt (acquired by AngelList), Bloomscape, May Mobility, Provi, Ambassador (acquired by West Corp.), AngelList, Scan (acquired by Snap), and Boxbee.
Ludlow’s second fund was also $45 million. Triest said that they could have raised more, but decided to keep it the same so that they did not have to worry about deploying excess capital. The third fund will also be used for investing in companies at the pre-seed and seed fund levels, but this time it will be larger checks for fewer companies.
“We strongly believe that the currency of seed stage investing is all about relationships,” said Triest via TechCrunch. “We seek to form the most authentic and deep friendships with the people we invest in — not some founder-friendly marketing vernacular, but real meaningful friendships. That gives us great transparency into a company, and sets us up to help the best we can.”
Excited to announce our new fund. Thank you @BrettdeM & @blakeir for being amazing partners & my best friends.
Thank you to the founders who have let us join them on their journeys, & to our incredible LP's who make this possible.Lot's of work to do.I hope we can make you proud
— Jonathon Triest (@jtriest) March 21, 2019
What makes Ludlow a venture capital firm that stands out is how they set up “carpool VC” sessions with some of the entrepreneurs that they invest in. During the “carpool VC” sessions, Triest talks entrepreneurship and business with entrepreneurs. And sometimes they sing along with the music just like they do on James Corden’s “Carpool Karaoke.”
Here is an example of Carpool VC with Product Hunt’s founder Ryan Hoover:
