NEW YORK (PRWEB)
June 23, 2021

H/L Ventures (https://h-l.vc/), a pioneer in the venture studio and impact investing world, today announced the closing of its Series A fund CityRock Venture Partners, LP (“CityRock”). CityRock, like all H/L Ventures investment funds, is focused on investing in companies at the nexus of growth, impact, and diversity. Closed to new investment, CityRock launches with a six-company portfolio, all of which are founded and led by underrepresented entrepreneurs.

H/L Ventures is a company-building venture capital firm that is redefining how closely investors can work with their founding teams. H/L Ventures and its family of funds have been recognized by Crain’s NY Business among the top ten most active VC firms in New York – and the top firm in NYC – with impact and diversity as core elements of its thesis. For more than a decade, H/L Ventures has partnered via its original venture studio with entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds launching high-growth seeking businesses that protect and promote people and the planet. The H/L Ventures ecosystem, including CityRock, is driven by the animating principle of Daily Active Engagement, working hands-on with most of its portfolio companies virtually every day.

“At H/L, we set out to show that much of the work of innovation happens after an initial investment is made,” said Eric Hatzimemos, co-founder, chairman, and CEO of the firm. “It’s about picking great entrepreneurs and businesses, and actively supporting them throughout their whole journey. With this approach, we’ve seen that we can purposefully and positively impact our portfolio companies’ chances for success.”

As more and more of H/L Ventures’ studio-backed start-ups achieved the Series A stage, the firm launched CityRock to strengthen its commitment to supporting these and other exciting companies through their growth journey. The team expects many of CityRock’s investments to come from the H/L Ventures’ studio as the companies mature, although the fund is also actively seeking investments outside the studio pipeline that align with its mandate. While the firm is industry agnostic, portfolio companies address key sectors like sustainable energy, health and wellness, better-for-you consumer products, financial technology, protective industries, and the future of work, among others.

H/L Venture’s existing studio vehicles have co-built more than thirty early stage portfolio companies. The existing CityRock portfolio includes six companies – Andie Swim, BlocPower, Holler, Hydra Studios, Loliware, and Sealed. In addition, CityRock’s team is proud to have co-led the Holler Series B.

All CityRock portfolio companies have access to the full services and engagement of the H/L Ventures team, including more than 30 core staff and Venture Partners, as well as hundreds of independent experts, advisors, and service providers. CityRock’s Investment Committee is gender-balanced and represents well over half a century of VC experience.

“Over the past decade, we have built a new model for supporting entrepreneurs, innovating within venture capital itself,” says Oliver Libby, co-founder and managing partner of H/L Ventures. “CityRock gives us a much more powerful new tool to succeed with our entrepreneurs, allowing us to extend and strengthen our support of these impactful companies and their inspiring founders.”

“Investing in businesses that have strong potential for growth, but make the world a better place, is crucial to our approach,” says co-founding general partner Laura Hovas. “We are pleased to see our sector waking up to the power of these underrepresented founders and their teams, who are working to build incredible, exciting companies.”

For more information about H/L Ventures and the CityRock fund, please visit http://www.h-l.vc.

About H/L Ventures

Hatzimemos / Libby Holdings LLC, (“H/L Ventures”) strives to help mission-driven founders build inspiring, valuable companies from inception to exit. Founded in 2009, H/L Ventures began its history as one of the first modern venture studios, and certainly among the earliest company-building firms focused on start-ups at the nexus of growth, impact, and diversity. H/L Ventures is specifically designed to deliver on Daily Active Engagement with all its portfolio companies, providing an unparalleled ecosystem of resources to entrepreneurs throughout their journey. These resources include a core studio team of more than thirty core staff and Venture Partners, the CityRock Series A fund, a Trusted Partner Network, select managed services, and more. A large majority of H/L Ventures’ studio-backed companies feature diverse founding teams, all of the CityRock fund’s portfolio companies have underrepresented founding CEOs, and 92% of every dollar invested by H/L Ventures has gone to underrepresented founders. In addition, every one of H/L Ventures’ more than thirty portfolio companies has both a strong case for economic performance and also a mission to protect and promote people and the planet.

H/L Ventures has received certain rankings by third parties as reflected herein. Interested readers should contact H/L Ventures to review the criteria for each ranking. In addition, the rankings reflect past performance of H/L Ventures and may not reflect the current performance or status of the firm and may no longer be applicable. Contact H/L Ventures for more information on how the rankings are determined and for full disclosures regarding third party rankings.

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Sparkpr

hlventures@sparkpr.com

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