Ulu Ventures, a top seed-stage VC firm, is the largest Latina-led fund in the US and it focused on high-growth and market-leading information technology and internet companies. Ulu raised $208 million for Fund IV, which is an increase of over 50% from Fund III’s $138 million. This latest fund also doubles Ulu’s assets under management to over $400 million AUM.
Ulu’s institutional investors feature a wide array of LPs. And twelve foundations, including the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Ford Foundation, CalWellness Foundation, and Marguerite Casey Foundation, invested in Fund IV. A Southern California public pension is a repeat investor, along with many other Ulu LPs. Fund-of-funds like GCM Grosvenor and leading Black- and women-led firms such as Fairview Capital and Illumen Capital extend the investor pool. Family offices are well-represented, including Pivotal Ventures, Verdis Investments, Gingerbread Capital and Hunt Holdings. Two higher-education endowments (one from a Boston-based college) participated. This investor base is enriched by corporate and financial institutions, notably Citi Impact Fund, MassMutual through its First Fund Initiative, venture firm Motley Fool Ventures, and mission-based investors like Mercy Investment Services.
Ulu has ten unicorns in its portfolio such as Guild Education, BetterUp, Figure, Provenance, ZUM, Homelight, Everlaw, and exited companies SoFi (traded on NASDAQ), Krux (sold to Salesforce), and Palantir. Palantir is traded on NASDAQ and joined the S&P 500 in October 2024.
Ulu Ventures is headed by Miriam Rivera, Clint Korver, Steve Reale, and Maria Salamanca. And Steve Reale and Maria Salamanca joined Ulu in Funds II and III, respectively, and were named General Partners in Fund III. And they are committed to building Ulu into a legacy firm that will generate top tier returns over generations.
KEY QUOTES:
“The caliber of institutional investors supporting Fund IV is exceptional. We are honored that they recognize Ulu’s disciplined data-driven investment thesis reduces cognitive bias while driving returns. We’ve been funding teams that bring together entrepreneurs with varied backgrounds, expertise, and life experiences for more than 15 years and they’ve proven to be highly successful.”
- CEO, Co-founder, and Managing Director Miriam Rivera
“We remain confident in Ulu Ventures ability to access top-tier deal flow and deliver strong returns for investors,” said
- Jessica Holsey, Managing Director, GCM Grosvenor, an investor in two of Ulu’s funds, including Fund IV
“Ulu Ventures continues to go from strength to strength, as evidenced by the impressive growth of their fourth fund. Ulu has built an extraordinary ability to spot and support founders who are often overlooked yet demonstrate a proven track record of success.”
- Erin Harkless Moore, Managing Director of Investment, Pivotal Ventures
“I have never supported numeric goals or so-called quotas, except as a remedy to unlawful discrimination. Ulu is a beacon for the most talented entrepreneurial teams because we reduce bias by applying impartial methods of assessing risk and the same criteria to all people. Evidence-supported and disciplined decision-making methodologies help us identify teams that are inclusive of all races, ethnicities and genders.”
- Miriam Rivera
“In this era of rapid transformation within the venture capital ecosystem, Ulu’s investment approach emphasizes a commitment to consistently delivering exceptional results across a growing portfolio of companies boldly shaping the future.”
- JoAnn Price, Co-Founder, Fairview Capital
“At Ulu, we believe that venture as an asset class is evolving. Our analytical approach helps us identify the best entrepreneurial teams and support companies in outlier industries before they are obvious. It’s an exciting time to be investing.”
- Maria Salamanca
