Recently, $97 million has been announced by Calibrate Ventures in new funds for partnering with exceptional founders forming the next generation of leading AI and automation companies.
Calibrate Fund II will expand on the firm’s solid track record of making investment in early-stage AI and automation startups quickly improving industries like healthcare, education, logistics, law, financial services, transportation and manufacturing.
Calibrate Fund Ii Is Over 20 Percent Larger Than the Firm’s Fully-invested First Fund
With great persisted requests from limited partners, Calibrate Fund II is more than 20 percent larger as compared to the firm’s entirely-invested first fund, which supported many popular AI and automation leaders like Built Robotics, Embodied, FarmWise, Soft Robotics, Talage, and TruckLabs.
And Calibrate’s portfolio companies have gained major scale and achieved significant milestones. Since 2018, the firm’s portfolio companies throughout the United States have provided more than 530 jobs and raised a total of almost $425 million in financing.
Plus Calibrate has grown its own investment team in the last two years, welcoming three new venture partners: Aimée Leifer, Paolo Pirjanian, and Daniel Murray; hiring Carrie Zawistowski as vice president of portfolio finance; and bringing on strategic operators to provide value-added portfolio services.
Managing Partners Kevin Dunlap and Jason Schoettler founded Calibrate Ventures, the company invests in prophetic founders using advanced automation to unravel human and economic potential.
No matter whether it’s AI software or a robot, Calibrate describes automation as using technology to a task, process, or workflow which would make it safer, quicker, more inexpensive, more reliable, or more sustainable.
And the firm invests sooner in Seed or Series A companies, later teams up with founders all across their growth journeys by giving hands-on direction for go-to-market, marketing and communications, business development, and sales strategy.
Prior to co-founding Calibrate, Dunlap and Schoettler spent 20 years recognizing and investing in disturbed technology companies, along with Chegg, Dollar Shave Club, Ring, SolarCity, and ServiceMax, at family office investment firm Shea Ventures.
Calibrate’s Limited Partners Also See the Outsized Potential in an Automated Future
Every day, these entrepreneurs find new ways to deploy AI to improve the way we work, live, and communicate. We’re honored that Calibrate’s limited partners also see the outsized potential in an automated future.”
In a statement, the CEO and co-founder of Calibrate portfolio company Trellis, Nicole Clark said “We had our choice of venture capitalists when it came to raising our Series A, but we chose to work with Calibrate on the strength of Kevin and Jason’s deep expertise and networks in the AI sector.
The Calibrate team is always there to help us with business development, technology questions, team-building, and strategic planning, and they have introduced us to several high-quality candidates, customers, and partners.”
The Co-Founder and CEO of GrayMatter Robotics, Airyan Kabir, whose seed round Calibrate led last year said “Having a VC who understands robotics, AI, and manufacturing in our corner has been a real accelerant to our growth.”
The managing partner of Calibrate Ventures, Kevin Dunlap said “Jason and I have been investing in AI and automation companies for over a decade, working closely with founders and taking active board roles to help them build their companies every step of the way.
After seeing so many startups break out to work with corporate clients and bring their AI solutions to large global markets, we’re even more bullish today on these sectors, as automation has finally reached the mainstream in almost every industry.”