From left: Tapestry VC team members Luke Byrne, Patrick Murphy, Audrey Miller, Alex Mackenzie and David Kelly. Image: Tapestry
Tapestry VC, started by Patrick Murphy and Web Summit co-founder David Kelly, focuses on technical founders who have experience starting businesses and who seek to disrupt ‘slow moving incumbents’.
Venture capital firm Tapestry has raised more than $50m in fresh capital, to back technical and repeat founders across two funds.
The firm has raised $31m for its second fund from 16 investors, out of a target of $50m. Tapestry said this fund typically invests around $1m in seed and pre-seed rounds across software, fintech and breakthrough technologies.
The VC firm has also announced a new $20m “opportunity fund”, which it will invest in the breakout companies of its first fund, Amaranthine. It will also invest in those coming out of its second early-stage fund.
Tapestry VC was started by Web Summit co-founder David Kelly and fund manager Patrick Murphy. The VC firm said it has made 40 investments in four years, with eight of those now valued at more than $500m, including virtual events platform Hopin.
The VC firm was previously known as Semble, but rebranded this year to avoid a dispute with Web Summit over its name, the Business Post reported.
Tapestry has a focus on backing technical founders who already have experience starting businesses and who seek to disrupt “slow-moving incumbents”. More than two-thirds of the firm’s investments to date are into founders who have previously built a company.
“Many of our current portfolio are tackling tech’s incumbents head on, whether it’s Apple’s iPhone, Google’s drones, or Amazon’s infrastructure,” Murphy said. “We will continue to back founders with this level of ambition and refusal to accept the world as it stands.”
As well as Hopin, Tapestry’s investment portfolio includes grocery delivery company Zapp, tech brand Nothing and Irish drone delivery firm Manna.
The firm said that repeat and experienced founders stand the strongest chance of building world-leading companies, as they have already seen what success looks like and learned from their mistakes.
For example, Carl Pei of Nothing co-founded the iconic handset maker OnePlus, while Manna is the third company of its CEO and founder Bobby Healy.
“Tapestry VC were able to have that initial confidence in us because of my existing experience,” Healy said. “They helped me channel that into a new industry and Manna’s thousands of successful drone deliveries today.”
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